India’s textile exports to U.S. will get same benefits as Bangladesh: Piyush Goyal

India will receive the same benefits on textiles exports under its interim trade agreement with the U.S. as Bangladesh gained through its own deal, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday (February 12, 2026).

The Hindu had reported on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) night that textile exporters had received assurances of equal treatment with Bangladesh. Under the Bangladesh-U.S. deal inked on Monday (February 9, 2026), reciprocal tariffs on Bangladesh’s exports to the U.S. will be reduced to 19% overall. However, the deal also has a provision saying that, if Bangladesh imports cotton from the U.S., then the tariffs on its textile exports will fall to 0%.

The Congress attacked the government regarding this clause, with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi saying that India, which is expected to see tariffs of 18% on exports to the U.S. under the interim agreement, has already been rendered uncompetitive on textiles even before the agreement is signed. 

‘Check the fine print’

“He [Rahul Gandhi] spread another lie in the Parliament that Bangladesh has got more benefits from the trade deal than India,” Mr. Goyal told reporters on Thursday (February 12, 2026). “Just as Bangladesh has a facility that if raw material is purchased from America, then if you process it and make cloth and export it, then it will be available at zero reciprocal tariff, India also has the same facility and India will also get it,” he said. 

The Minister pointed out that India’s agreement with the U.S. is still being finalised. In an interview with The Hindu earlier this week, he said that the interim deal is expected to be signed in mid-March. 

“When the interim agreement is finalised, then you will get to see this in the fine print,” Mr. Goyal said on Thursday (February 12, 2026). 

‘Farmers will benefit’

The Commerce Minister added that Indian farmers also stand to benefit from increased exports to the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, and Australia due to India’s free trade agreements with these countries and groupings. 

This latest shift in the contours of the India-U.S. deal is not a new one. The U.S. government on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) amended a fact sheet it had uploaded a few days earlier, by removing references to “pulses”, “agricultural products”, and “digital service tax”. The new version of the fact sheet also said India “intends” to buy $500 billion worth of American goods as opposed to the earlier phrasing that said India has “committed to buy” this amount.