Turkey announced on Wednesday its plans to raise tariffs on a number of imported products coming from the United States, including cars, tobacco, and alcohol. This retaliatory move by Ankara is an answer to the earlier announcement from US President Donald Trump, indicating the increase of levies on Turkish metals. Meanwhile, the country's decision doesn't bode well with the White House.
A report from Reuters pointed out on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's earlier speech this week saying that the country is a target of an "economic war" instigated by the US. The White House has earlier announced that it will impose sanctions on Turkey if its conditions won't be met.
Turkey remained in its stance to get back at the Western powerhouse by placing additional duties on various US imports like cigarettes, passenger cars, and spirits.
As stated by the media outlet, the tariff on the said products can go as high as 120 percent.
Aside from the mentioned commodities, Erdogan expressed his desire for the country to boycott the sale of US electronic goods - with the iPhone as the primary target of the policy.
In a previous report from this site, Erdogan said the Turkish can certainly do away with iPhones as there are other alternatives around such as South Korea's Samsung smartphones.
This recent turn of events definitely caused chaos among the common Turkish consumer. Business owners, in particular, are quite upset with the US sanctions and doubly so with Erdogan's decision to increase the tax on US imports, the Washington Post mentioned.
Citing sources from the Turkish capital, the Washington Post report said that buyers have become "more cautious," leading business proprietors to lose customers.
"Nobody is buying anything," said one business owner.
With the Turkish lira suffering the trade spat between Turkey and US, average citizens are also worried that their meager income won't be able to keep up to the frenetic rise of prices around the country.
The US Reacts
Washington, meanwhile, was taken aback with Erdogan's decision to hit levies on US products. In a statement made by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders during a press briefing, she said that the tariffs from Turkey are "regrettable" and seemingly unreasonable.
In a footage shared by Financial Times, Sanders said that Washington's tariffs placed on Turkey were "out of national security interests," while Ankara's are simply "out of retaliation."
Again, Sanders clarified that the duties placed on Turkish steel won't be removed anytime soon despite the upcoming release of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson.
Just last month, Trump threatened to impose large sanctions on Turkey should it fail to free Brunson from detention. The person in question was previously detained for suspicions of terrorism and espionage.
