new delhi/mumbai, June 4 -- Indian exporters of apparel, automotive parts, pharmaceuticals and tyres-with significant shipments to the US-are preparing contingency plans or revising their business strategies to mitigate the business risk from the imposition of tariffs. US President Donald Trump's administration has imposed a 10% universal tariff on all imports from every country, including India. Gokaldas Exports Ltd, a listed garments exporter, will focus on expanding its business in Europe because tariffs have hurt business with its main export market-the US. "Since there is a lot of tariff uncertainty, we are pivoting to Europe. The idea is not to reduce our US business in absolute terms, but for incremental business we will focus on Europe including the UK," said Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi, managing director of Gokaldas Exports. Margins of apparel exporters including Gokaldas have come under pressure following the tariff levy. US retailers have been unable to pass on the increased cost to consumers and are pushing for their suppliers to share the burden, Ganapathi said. "In the short term, we may also have to bear some of that cost just to keep up the relationships," he said. Gokaldas got about three-fourths of its Rs.3,864 crore FY25 revenue from the US. The US is the largest destination for Indian apparel exports. This is because competing apparel-exporting nations Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Pakistan get preferential tariff rates in Europe, putting Indian exporters at a disadvantage. India's in-principle trade agreement with the UK last month and progressing talks with the European Union (EU) could now level the playing field for Indian exporters. "Once an FTA (free trade agreement) with the UK is finalized, it will bring at least a $1 billion apparel export opportunity for India. The opportunity in the EU will be much larger. We should ready ourselves up for this incremental business," Ganapathi said. India exported readymade garments worth $16 billion (Rs.1.35 trillion) in FY25, as per data from the Apparel Export Promotion Council, an industry group. Indian tyre companies are chalking out similar contingency plans. The US is a key export market for Indian tyremakers, constituting about one-fifth of the country's total overseas tyre sales of $3 billion in FY24. Balkrishna Industries Ltd, which gets almost three-fourths of its revenue from exports, will focus on expanding business in India with a series of product launches. The company now targets 8% of the global tyre market by 2030 compared with its earlier goal of a 10% share. Ceat, which acquired Canada's Camso in December, is betting that India will be successful in signing a bilateral trade pact with the US before Sri Lanka and is planning to change its tyre distribution accordingly. Camso gets 30% of its business from the US through its manufacturing units in Sri Lanka....