Council for Leather Exports hails India-US trade deal as win-win for leather sector
- IBEF
- February 11, 2026
The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) has praised the newly reached India-US intergovernmental trade agreement as a historic milestone that will be of tremendous benefit to India's leather, footwear, and leather products industries; this development will bring large amounts of trade benefits for both countries due to more liberalized conditions related to tariffs, etc. The CLE believes that the deal is a "win-win" situation for both countries. Additionally, they state that "the US continues to be the single largest consumer of Indian leather goods globally and makes up about one-fourth of all Indian leather goods exports recesses"; therefore, with the new agreement providing for long-standing restrictions on tariff and non-tariff barriers, Indian leather goods will be able to compete with other global producers, which will then provide substantial increases to their overall export volumes within this time period and liably very quickly thereafter.
The new trade agreement established by the CLE will motivate US companies to diversify their supply chains further into India, particularly in high-growth areas, such as non-leather shoes and premium leather goods. It is expected that this trend will generate a large amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Indian manufacturing hubs and generate thousands of new jobs for women who make up a major part of the industry's workforce. The combination of the "China Plus One" approach and the new trade policy will allow India to dramatically increase its slice of the Rs. 36,29,600 crore (US$ 400 billion) global leather and shoe market while improving its reputation as a producer of quality and sustainable products.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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