ZCZC
BCN-10
TURKEY-US-TRADE
Turkey lambasts US move to end special trade status
ANKARA, March 6, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Turkey’s trade minister on Tuesday said
US plans to end the preferential trade status granted to Turkey conflicted
with the NATO allies’ push to increase commercial exchanges.
“This decision contradicts our mutual objective of reaching bilateral
trade volume of $75 billion… The decision will also negatively affect US
small and medium-sized enterprises and manufacturers,” Ruhsar Pekcan said on
Twitter.
“We still would like to pursue our target of increasing our bilateral
trade with the US who we see as our strategic partner, without losing any
momentum,” she said.
The United States Trade Representative’s Office said Monday that
Washington intended to end “India’s and Turkey’s designations as beneficiary
developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
program.”
The office made the decision at US President Donald Trump’s direction,
saying that it was because the countries no longer complied with eligibility
criteria.
Under the GSP programme, some products may enter the US duty-free if
countries meet criteria which include offering the US “equitable” market
access.
Turkey was made a GSP beneficiary in 1975 and the office said Turkey had
shown a “higher level of economic development” meaning that it could be
“graduated” from the programme.
Relations between the US and Turkey have been strained, especially
following the 2016 failed coup and Washington’s support for a Syrian Kurdish
militia viewed by Ankara as a “terrorist offshoot” of Kurdish insurgents
within its borders.
Last summer ties worsened over the detention of an American pastor, during
which Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium, and sanctioned
two senior Turkish officials. Pastor Andrew Brunson was later released and
relations improved.
BSS/AFP/HR/0940