Major US coal producer says Turkey's tariff decision ruins its future plans

Turkey's decision to increase tariffs on U.S. coal imports has hit the future plans of major U.S. coal producer Murray Energy, according to Montel, a key information provider for the European energy markets.

Murray Energy is responsible for half of U.S. thermal coal exports.

A Montel report added that the company had spent three years developing its plan to provide much of the expected surge in U.S. exports to Turkey, as the country had planned to raise limits on sulfur content. However, the tariff hike would cause Murray to "lose a substantial business opportunity."

Turkey recently hiked import tariffs on U.S. thermal coal from 5 percent to 13.7 percent, the report said.

The country also decided to impose tariffs on nearly two dozen U.S. products in retaliation to Washington's additional tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum.

Turkey has also increased the tariffs on certain U.S. goods by up to 100 percent and more.

According to the report, Robert Murray, the conglomerate's CEO and a staunch supporter of the Trump administration's policies to revive the U.S. coal industry, told Montel in an interview in June that they have worked with Turkey to raise their sulfur limits but tit-for-tat tariffs wiped out years of gains.