India-US Trade Agreement, major boost for Textile Industry

• India-US Interim Trade Agreement (announced Feb 2026) reduces US reciprocal tariffs on Indian textiles from ~50% to 18%, opening access to the US$118 bn US textile/apparel/made-ups import market.
• Critical for UPSC: links Prelims (trade data, schemes like PM MITRA, PLI) with Mains GS-II (India-US bilateral) and GS-III (external sector, employment, MSMEs).
• Sector employs ~45 mn directly; US is India's largest textile export destination (~$10.5 bn).