Turkey doubles tariffs on some US imports over economy ‘attacks’

President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish metals exports to the United States last week prompting Turkey, which says it will not bow to threats, to raise tariffs on USA cars, alcohol and tobacco by the same amount on Wednesday.

“Escalating the use of Section 232 tariffs on imports from Turkey poses serious risks for the United States”, Brilliant said. Brunson, who Turkish officials say had links to a failed 2016 coup, is being held under house arrest.

The White House on Wednesday condemned Turkey’s doubling of tariffs on United States cars, alcohol and tobacco imports, calling the action “a step in the wrong direction”.

President Donald Trump personally took part in negotiations aimed at reaching a deal to release Brunson. On Tuesday, he said Turkey would boycott USA electronic products.

On Tuesday, he claimed that a “global campaign led by the Trump administration”, was behind Turkey’s economic woes.

The lira has lost more than 40 per cent this year and crashed to an all-time low of 7.24 to the dollar on Monday, hit by worries over Erdogan’s calls for lower borrowing costs and by worsening ties with the United States, a major North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally. It follows a string of urgent steps Erdogan has taken to protect its economy from an escalating feud with US counterpart Donald Trump over an American pastor held in Turkey.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that the rises were ordered “within the framework of reciprocity in retaliation for the conscious attacks on our economy by the United States administration”.

The Turkish government on Wednesday announced new tariffs on US imports, ratcheting up its trade war with the USA the same day a local court denied an American pastor’s appeal to be released from house arrest.

Tariffs on American cars doubled to 120 percent while tariffs on alcoholic drinks increased to 140 percent.

This tariff hikes came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s announcement on 14 August of a boycott on U.S. electronics goods, with Erdoğan advising explicitly against the purchase of iPhones, encouraging citizens to instead use Samsung and Turkish-made Vestel phones.

The Turkish lira continued to retreat from its historic low against the dollar on Thursday after Qatar announced a $15 billion funding package for Turkey’s wobbling economy.

President Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin praised Qatari-Turkish relations on Twitter. The punitive steps come after Erdogan called on Turks to boycott American electronics, like the iPhone, which have in any case become a lot more expensive as the lira lost nearly 40 per cent of its value this year.

The country’s finance minister – who is also Mr Erdogan’s son-in-law – will seek to reassure around 1000 worldwide investors in a teleconference scheduled for Thursday.

Some 3,000 investors registered to join Albayrak’s planned tele-conference, the private NTV broadcaster reported.

In a televised speech on Friday, he called on Turkish citizens to exchange foreign currency and gold for lira, calling it an “economic war”.

The lira’s initial slide came amid rising tensions between the United States and Erdogan over trade. On Aug. 15, a Turkish court in the Aegean province of Izmir, where Brunson is on trial, rejected the pastor’s appeal to be released from house arrest. “We have other partners and alternative markets”.

Turkish officials have also been keen to emphasise that Ankara wants to retain strong ties with Europe, which has also expressed deep unease with Trump´s trade policies.