Turkey will withdraw 29 products, most of them imported electronic goods, from its market citing "unfair competition" and safety concerns, Anadolu Agency (AA) said yesterday.
The items recalled include electric engines, hairdryers, kettles and seat belts, the report said, sharing a list from the ministry of industry and technology. Twenty-one are imported products.
The decision is part of a "Support and Protection Package" announced by the government on Wednesday, which the ministry said is aimed at encouraging local production and "easing the burden on industrialists and entrepreneurs following economic attacks against Turkey."
The statement spoke of intensified safety audits on imported products to "avoid unfair competition."
The move comes amid an escalation in relations between Turkey and the U.S., which have been locked in a heated crisis emanating from unjust sanctions and the actions of Trump, as Washington levied sanctions on Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül and increased tariffs on imported steel from Turkey by 50 percent and aluminum by 20 percent, respectively, while threatening the country with more sanctions over pastor Andrew Brunson.
The pastor is under house arrest in Turkey on charges of links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the PKK, a U.S.-designated armed terrorist organization. In retaliation, Turkey increased the tariffs on certain U.S. goods up to 100 percent and more.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in August called for a boycott of U.S.-made electronic products.
"We will boycott American electronic products," Erdoğan had said on Aug. 14, adding that Turkey would produce a better version of every product previously bought with foreign currencies and export them.
