The government on Thursday extended duty-free import of cotton by three more months till December 31 to support textile exporters facing steep 50 per cent tariffs in the US. Earlier, on August 18, the Finance Ministry had allowed duty exemption on cotton imports from August 19 till September 30. In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said, "In order to support exporters further, the Central government has decided to extend the import duty exemption on cotton (HS 5201) from 30th September 2025 till 31st December 2025."