Turkey ‘in touch’ with US over steel tariffs

ANKARA (AA): Ankara was in touch with the US over its decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Thursday.

“Our contacts [with the US] continue through writing, telephone and our embassy in the US and by all other means,” Zeybekci told reporters after a meeting with Sudan’s Agriculture and Forests Minister Abdullatif Ahmed Mohamed Ijaimi in the capital Ankara.

In March, US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminium. The minister said the tariffs on steel and aluminium were “unacceptable” for Turkey.

He said the reasons behind Washington’s decision to impose tariffs on Turkey were “wrong”.

“We have a $1.2 billion export in iron-steel sector and $1.3 billion import [from the US]. There is a gap here,” Zeybekci said.

“The US claims that ‘While I fulfil all kinds of obligations related to the security of the world, the other countries do not spend on defense sufficiently’. This also does not bind Turkey,” he added.

The economy minister said Ankara will get “positive” or “negative” results next week, but he warned that if the results were “negative”, his country would respond.