00:00Ashish Kushwaha runs a modest garment workshop with seven workers
00:04and is heavily dependent on orders from export houses shipping to the U.S.
00:10In May this year, Ashish dipped into his savings to buy this needlework machine
00:15worth nearly 5,000 euros.
00:18His dream was simple.
00:20Expand his business to include embroidered clothes for export to the United States.
00:24But the U.S.'s threat of a 50% tariff on textiles imported from India has dashed his plans.
00:35Many export orders are on hold right now because of this tariff announcement.
00:3950% of my earnings come solely from such orders.
00:42So I'm worried about what will happen.
00:44I have to pay workers too.
00:46With no plan B, Ashish is bracing for the worst.
00:49I will have to let some people go to cut my expenses.
00:57I will also need to move to a smaller place perhaps to save on rent.
01:05India is one of the world's top textile exporters.
01:09In 2024, it shipped some $10.5 billion worth of garments to the U.S. alone.
01:15The huge market has also drawn in new entrepreneurs like Nitin Pratap, who just secured his export license.
01:23But his very first big order, also from the U.S., has been put on hold.
01:30With more tariffs, the cost of the garments will shoot up, which will eat into our profit margins.
01:35It won't leave us enough money to source more raw material for other orders from fabric vendors.
01:40It will have a big impact.
01:42Like Ashish, his concern is also for his workers.
01:46About 200 of them.
01:49Like Kalawati, who cuts fabric here at Nitin's workshop.
01:53I have been doing this work for five years.
01:56This is how I earn and feed my family.
01:59Here in Noida, India's city of apparel, an entire ecosystem is in turmoil.
02:04There are hundreds and thousands of workers here in this industry.
02:11They live a hand-to-mouth existence, and they have to earn every day to eat.
02:19Ashish and Nitin, both first-time entrepreneurs and the first in their families to own businesses,
02:24now meet often to prepare for what's ahead.
02:28They have poured years of sweat and savings into businesses that sustain hundreds of workers and their families.
02:34Their future is now hanging very much in the balance.
02:38They will have joue-outs.
02:39They have taken a leg of theません.
02:44And the elements show.
02:44They have started hunting.
02:46They are
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