At his three-story workshop in an old mud and brick house in Hawal, in , 65-year-old Akhtar Mir leads a team of papier-mache artisans.
The workshop is heavy with the smell of paint. Workers sit cross-legged on the floor, their hands stained and smudged as , elephants, and ornamental boxes with colorful patterns of flowers and birds.
For three generations, Mir’s family has taught this meticulous art and passed down passion for it. Today, the workshop is more than just Mir’s family legacy — it also allows dozens of local artisans to support their families.
Each year, Mir and his team create special papier-mache pieces for Christmas orders destined for and Europe, But with , this holiday season might be different.
“We are worried about the new tariffs. We haven’t received orders for Christmas yet,” he told DW.
“My workers’ livelihood will be impacted if we do not get the orders.”
And are not the only reason to be concerned. Kashmiri artisans sell a lot of their products to tourists, but has caused the number of tourists to sharply decline this year.
‘This work does not make us happy anymore’
Even the people weaving luxurious Kashmiri carpets are worried about being cut off from wealthy buyers in the US.
“This work does not make us happy anymore; it is stressful and uncertain,” says Abdul Majid, a carpet weaver from Kunzer village in northern Kashmir.
For many years, the US demand for textiles, carpets, and artisan goods has fueled Kashmir’s handicraft industry. But due to , the US imposed tariffs of up to 50% on a range of Indian products.
Foreign buyers were already paying premium prices for Kashmiri handicraft products due to the value of artistry and skilled laborers required to make the goods. However, the prices have risen sharply under the new tariff regime and the demand is expected to fall, placing the livelihoods of thousands of artisans in jeopardy.
Italy as potential rival for artisanal goods
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) decries the US tariffs as “catastrophic” for the handicraft sector.
“We believe the government is working on this and they can offer incentives for exporters to bring some semblance to the trade,” said KCCI head Javid Ahmad Tenga.
Instead of buying from Kashmir, US customers could turn to , where the US tariffs are capped at 15%, a senior official in the Department of Handicrafts and Handloom in Kashmir told DW.
“This effectively ensures that Kashmir’s handicrafts will be pushed out of the market. Many US customers have already put their orders on hold, which makes it difficult to keep our looms and artisans engaged with work. In turn, this creates the risk of unemployment,” the official said.
Some 400,000 artisans are registered with the local government in the region. A major disruption to their work would also lead to a loss of skills, according to the official, who requested anonymity.
“Once an artisan shifts to another occupation, we lose not only the present workforce but also the future potential to produce such high-quality goods,” the official said.
Luxury goods out of reach for US buyers
Before the geopolitical feud between India and the US, the exported goods attracted import duties of around 8–12%, with US buyers paying around $1.2 billion annually for a 60% share of India’s handicraft exports.
Kashmiri handicraft exporter Mujataba Qadri agrees that Trump’s tariffs are a serious blow to the region’s artisanal sector.
Qadri warns that luxury goods are particularly vulnerable to rising prices, as buyers tend to postpone or forgo their purchases.
“With tariffs increasing by 50%, everything we export from Kashmir to the US — shawls, rugs, papier-mache — falls into the luxury and non-essential category,” said Qadri, who runs the cashmere weaving and exporting company Me & K.
“A firm like Me & K, which sends 80% of its exports to the US, will be significantly affected. For example, a shawl that retailed at $300 will now cost $450, a substantial jump. As a result, most people are likely to cancel their orders,” Qadri said.
Looming uncertainty
Experts warn that the new tariffs could cut exports by half and threaten between 500,000 and 700,000 artisanal jobs across India.
Shawl weaver Afroza Jan in Zonimar, on the outskirts of Srinigar in Kashmir, is already feeling the pressure.
“It is a lot of grind and hard work,” says the 39-year-old Afroza, who spends her working day at her home loom. “My eyes hurt, and my back aches. But this is our only livelihood. Our dealer canceled some orders, saying there is an uncertainty in the market,” she added.
Her husband and sister-in-law also weave the luxury shawls, which take months to years to make, and bulk orders require ten or more people from her family to pitch in.
“If we lose work, then it will impact our whole families,” she told DW.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
The post Kashmiri artisans feel the bite of Trump’s India tariffs appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
