Tamil Nadu, one of India’s richest states that’s heavily reliant on exports, claims high US tariffs are causing “irreparable damage” to businesses in the region and has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently seek a trade deal with Washington, a Bloomberg report said on Thursday.

M.K. Stalin, the chief minister of the state, has said export orders have dried up in some districts, resulting in a daily loss of ₹600 million ($6.7 million) in revenue.

In Tiruppur district — also known as the knitwear capital of the nation — there’s been “a staggering wipe out” of ₹150 billion in confirmed orders, forcing production cuts of up to 30 per cent, Stalin said in a letter to Modi on Thursday, the report said.

US President Donald Trump slapped tariffs of 50 per cent on Indian goods in August, one of the highest rates in the world, slashing exports to India’s biggest market and threatening Modi’s manufacturing ambitions. Despite months of negotiations, both sides remain locked in talks without any clear sign whether the tariffs will be lowered.

Stalin, who is part of the Opposition and often critical of the Modi government, has described the situation in Tamil Nadu as an “escalating crisis” in his letter to the Prime Minister. The resulting economic setback has pushed many small and medium enterprises to the “brink of collapse”, he added.

“The current trade stalemate is not merely an economic setback but a looming humanitarian challenge due to the irreparable damage caused by the tariffs,” Stalin said in his letter.

Ruled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, Tamil Nadu is one of India’s largest exporting hubs for textiles, electronics, leather and footwear, and automobiles. As the country’s most industrialised state, it competes with Vietnam and Mexico and is home to Apple Inc. factories. Mobile phone exports are currently exempted from Trump’s tariffs.