China is the world’s second-largest exporter of textile machinery. Much of the production is destined for the domestic market. The country’s industry believes it will be able to cope with punitive duties that have been proposed by the US.

Chinese exports that could be hit with 25 per cent duties include textile machinery-related items such as knitting, weaving and spinning machines and finishing equipment, plus parts. However, even if these duties are imposed, China feels short-term effect will be limited as most textile machinery produced by Chinese companies is being used domestically or in Southeast Asia or Africa. And since the US doesn’t have many other cost-effective alternatives for sourcing machinery, Chinese manufacturers feel they will be able to pass a lot of the cost along to the end buyer.

Chinese textile machinery is modern and inexpensive compared to many others in the industry. An increasing number of Chinese machinery manufacturers are participating in various exhibitions being held across India. Compared to Europe, the quality of China’s textile machinery may not be quite high, but the price being only one-third of European textile machinery, Chinese machinery is attractive for Indian textile enterprises.