Ankara was in touch with the U.S. over its decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said yesterday.
"Our contact [with the U.S.] continues through writing, telephone and our embassy in the U.S. and by all other means," Zeybekci told reporters after a meeting with Sudanese Agriculture and Forests Minister Abdullatif Ahmed Mohamed Ijaimi in the capital Ankara.
In March, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum.
The minister said the tariffs on steel and aluminum were "unacceptable" for Turkey.
He said the reasons behind Washington's decision to impose tariffs on Turkey were "wrong." "We have $1.2 billion in exports in the iron-steel sector and $1.3 billion in imports [from the U.S.]. There is a gap here," Zeybekci said.
"The U.S. 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 T
urkey," he added.
The economy minister said that Ankara will get "positive" or "negative" results next week, but he warned that if the results were "negative," his country would respond.
