LUCKNOW: In the wake of Turkey's open support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) has urged the Union government to impose reciprocal tariffs on machine-made carpets imported from there to ensure fair protection to Indian carpets in the domestic market.
The CEPC also raised the issue of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian handmade carpets, weakening their global competitiveness. According to CEPC director Sanjay Kumar Gupta, a delegation of the council, led by chairman Kuldeep R Wattal, met minister of state for commerce Jitin Prasada, in the presence of Bhadohi MP Vinod Bind in New Delhi on Wednesday, to put forward the demands including imposing reciprocal tariffs on import of Turkey’s machine-made carpets.
He said the delegation also pointed out that by imposing reciprocal tariffs on machine-made carpets imported from Turkey, Indian carpets would get fair protection in the domestic market.
The basic customs duty on machine-made carpets and other textile floor coverings from Turkey imported by India is 20%, he said, adding that Turkey, however, imposed a 46% duty on import of Indian carpets.
Seeking immediate attention of the Indian authorities towards bilateral carpet trade with Turkey in view of the fast-dropping figures of carpet export to the country, the CEPC also wanted immediate intervention on the issue of tariffs imposed by Trump administration on Indian handmade carpets.
As per CEPC sources, in 2015-16, India’s carpet exports to Turkey were worth 17.08 million dollars, but since 2016-17, they started dipping and in 2024-25 (till January end), this figure was 6.5 million dollars.
However, there has been a rise in the import of carpets and other floor coverings from Turkey. In 2015-16, the value of the import of carpets from Turkey was 4.20 million dollars. It went up to 13.97 million dollars and 10.01 million dollars in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively, and in 2024-25, it was 8.18 million dollars, said council members.
Meanwhile, over 50 percent of exports, especially of handmade carpets, are done to the US, where the trend of exports remained above $1000 million since 2020-21 till 2024-25. After the US, the major importers of Indian carpets are European countries, including Germany, UK, France, Italy, along with Canada, Australia, South Africa and Latin American nations like Brazil.
The CEPC members claimed that the reciprocal tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump would, on the one hand, increase the cost of carpets for American buyers. On the other hand, other major exporters, including Turkey, with a lower US tariff as compared to India, would get an advantage in the market.
Gupta said the cottage industry of carpet weaving generated employment for not only thousands of weavers and artisans but also farmers, who work on looms part-time for weaving.
The delegation which met the minister included Ashfaque Ahmad Ansari, Umesh Shukla, Sattar Ansari, Aseem Ansari (Bobby), Sadiq Ansari and Shahid Ansari.
