Türkiye just isn’t a rustic being focused by U.S. tariff wars, a prime commerce official stated Thursday, highlighting that they noticed an acceleration in bilateral relations with Washington.
“Türkiye is not a country that the U.S. is targeting in tariff wars. They themselves state this. The facts also show it. Our foreign trade with the U.S. is balanced. Last year, it was neck-to-neck,” Trade Minister Ömer Bolat stated at a summit organized by Daily Sabah’s mum or dad firm, Turkuvaz Media Group.
Addressing the occasion, titled “Opportunities in the Changing World Order,” Bolat evaluated commerce prospects amid tariffs launched by the brand new U.S. administration, latest export figures and expectations for the upcoming interval.
Answering the questions associated to the levies, Bolat stated they had been involved with their U.S. counterparts, reiterating, nevertheless, a balanced construction of commerce and a momentum in ties with Washington, which got here to the fore additionally with the elimination of sanctions beforehand imposed on Syria.
Referring to commerce with the U.S., he stated: “We have increasing liquified natural gas (LNG) and natural gas imports. We are importing passenger aircraft. We are seeing that the bans and restrictions in the defense industry are slowly being lifted.”
“A permit for rocket ammunition sales of nearly $300 million was granted two weeks ago. Efforts are being made to lift CAATSA sanctions,” he added.
“There is also a softening in this regard. Sanctions against Syria were lifted with our persuasion. At the political level, with the strong dialogue between our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Trump and the policies implemented, Türkiye-U.S. relations are being tried to be improved, and we are doing well,” Bolat stated.
Reminding that negotiations are being held with Washington on tariffs, the minister went on to say that proper now, “every room of the U.S. Department of Commerce has turned into a negotiation room.”
“We are continuing the negotiations there in the same way. We want some improvements. Mutual negotiations are being held,” he famous.
“There were additional taxes imposed on the steel and aluminum sectors in 2018. We are also working on some improvements in textiles,” he added.
Indeed, the Trade Ministry not too long ago stated that the third spherical of talks was held in Washington. However, Bolat’s remarks got here as the highest U.S. commerce court docket blocked Trump’s choice to impose the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on quite a lot of nations, citing that they exceeded the authority given to the president.
Türkiye is uncovered to a ten% baseline tariff, being one among a small variety of nations with comparatively extra favorable situations with regards to the levies.
Boosts in items, providers exports
Moreover, touching upon exports, he recalled that there was a rise in exports in April. “Our exports elevated in three of the primary 4 months of the 12 months: January, March and April. Both our exports of products and providers are going effectively.”
“There was a 0.3% drop in February. The reason is that last year’s February had 29 days, this year it had 28. One business day has great importance for us – $1 billion. 2025 is going well, positively and in the right direction in exports of goods and services,” Bolat stated.
“There is a slight motion in America and Europe, however in fact it isn’t like 2021-2022,” he additional stated, referring to the excessive demand in the course of the restoration interval from the COVID-19 pandemic and the excessive inflation and progress charges attributable to that demand.
“The balancing process continues. We expect American policies to attack our European, African, Asian and other markets in the Far East. In other words, what will those producers who are from there and have difficulty selling goods to America and who are subject to high tariffs do this time? They will attack Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Gulf, Asia and our markets. They will be our competitors. In any case, the competition will only get worse. We will try to protect our markets here as well,” the minister defined.
He additionally acknowledged there was an export growth within the protection business, jewellery and automotive sectors, whereas areas corresponding to equipment merchandise, development supplies, textiles and clothes had been secure.
The minister additional stated that the progress in exports is sweet in comparison with the situations in Europe, reminding that final 12 months, items exports reached $261.8 billion and providers exports got here in at $115.2 billion.
“We will share the results of the fifth month with all of Türkiye on Monday (June 2),” he stated, referring to preliminary export figures for May.
“As of the first four months, we have an increase of around 5% in service exports, and a 3.9%, or 4%, increase in goods exports. We are also taking imports in a controlled manner. Hopefully, the figures will present a positive picture this month (in terms of exports and imports),” stated the minister.
He additionally offered info that inspections concerning the battle in opposition to exorbitant costs and opportunism are persevering with, suggesting that roughly TL 5 billion value of fines had been imposed on account of inspections performed by provincial commerce directorates final 12 months.
Bolat additionally as soon as once more strongly refuted claims about commerce with Israel, reiterating that, “Since May 2, 2024, each exports and imports have been zero, no customs transactions have been carried out.”
He stated that they repeated this a number of occasions in tv appearances, conferences and written statements, dismissing claims as lies.
“Let them continue to lie, we will continue to tell the truth more than they do,” he stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com