Turkey’s trade practices under review

U.S. Trade Representative says country has put up barriers that “create serious negative effects on U.S. commerce.”    In connection with the Trump administration’s ongoing Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) country practice review of Turkey, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is collecting comments through Sept. 12, and the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s GSP Subcommittee on Sept. 26 will hold a public hearing in Washington.
   “This review will focus on whether Turkey is meeting the GSP eligibility criterion that requires a GSP beneficiary country to assure the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to its market,” USTR said in an Aug. 16 Federal Register notice.
   USTR will accept post-hearing briefs through Oct. 17.
   “Turkey recently has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on U.S. commerce, including imposing additional duties only on U.S. products, and in some instances, imposing additional duties that exceed the rates set out by Turkey in its World Trade Organization (WTO) schedule of concessions,” USTR said.
   In response to U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum duties, Turkey imposed duties ranging from 4 percent to 70 percent across $1.8 billion worth of U.S. exports, based on 2017 trade value.
   The Trump administration has asserted that its steel and aluminum duties fall under a WTO exemption that allows members to raise tariffs in excess of normal WTO-bound rates in cases in which imports harm national security. But several other nations’ governments and several trade analysts have opposed the United States’ stance.
   U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday started collecting 50 percent tariffs on steel imported from Turkey, after President Donald Trump ordered Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from Turkey to be doubled following the devaluation of the Turkish currency. The Trump administration has not yet announced any formal action to double aluminum tariffs from their current rate of 20 percent.
   Treasury on Aug. 1 sanctioned Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for their roles in the arrest and ongoing detention of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor arrested in Izmir, Turkey, in October 2016, accused without evidence of aiding armed terrorist organizations and obtaining confidential government information for espionage, according to Treasury.
   In a tweet on Aug. 10 announcing his intent to raise metal tariffs on Turkey, Trump noted that U.S. relations with Turkey “are not good at this time!”