A 50 % hike in U.S. tariffs on Indian goods has devastated Kashmir’s carpet industry, forcing weavers to abandon their craft and threatening the survival of a centuries-old trade.
Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, a former carpet weaver in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region, has given up the artisan trade of 35 years and now sells tea by Dal Lake after doubling U.S. tariffs made it impossible to afford basic expenses for his family of six.
Thousands of artisans across the Himalayan region, which employs about 400,000 people in handicrafts, have been battered by the U.S. move in August to double tariffs to 50 %. Exports of Indian carpets to the U.S. accounted for nearly 60 % of the country’s handmade carpet trade, intensifying the blow.
“Business is slowing down because of the increase in U.S. tariffs … many workers are losing jobs and shifting to other work, causing a loss of traditional skills,” said Mujtaba Qadri of M&K Exports. Meanwhile, third-generation carpet maker Mohammed Yaqoob Bafanda warns: “If a 50% tax continues, this industry will collapse. I have 40 to 50 carpets in stock and no buyers.” e Indian government says it is trying to support affected exporters through incentives and by opening alternative markets, but local producers caution that such measures may come too late to rescue many small operators already struggling under the tariff shock.