Turkey targets US goods in response to raised tariffs

Turkey has retaliated against the US’s increased tariffs on Turkish steel by hiking up levies on a wide range of US goods.

US President Trump issued a proclamation on 10 August raising s232 tariffs on Turkish steel to 50% – which, he claimed, was ‘a significant step towards ensuring the viability of the domestic steel industry.’ In response, Turkey has announced that levies on certain US goods will double, or in some cases triple.

The goods affected include rice, on which levies more than double from 20% to 50%; spirits, which rise from 40% to 140%; and motor cars, which double from 25% to 50%. Other goods affected include coal, beauty and make-up products, and paper.

The list of goods affected were published in Turkey’s Official Gazette in a decree signed by Turkish President Erdogan on 15 August.

Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said the rises were ordered ‘within the framework of reciprocity in retaliation for the conscious attacks on our economy by the US administration’. President Erdogan (pictured) has also urged Turkish nationals to boycott US electronic goods such as iPhones.

Rising tensions

Tensions between the US and Turkey have heightened since the US imposed sanctions against two Turkish government ministers on 1 August and announced its plan to raise tariffs on Turkish aluminium and steel. Turkey has refused to release American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been in captivity since 2016 accused of links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Gulenist movement, which Turkey holds responsible for a failed coup attempt in 2016. The US has refused to extradite Pennsylvania-based Fethullah Gulen, founder of the Gulenist movement. President Erdogan has blamed the perilous state of the Turkish lira, which plunged last week, on ‘a plot’ and accused the US of issuing a ‘stab in the back’ to its Nato ally.