Türkiye is not a country being targeted by U.S. tariff wars, a top trade official said Thursday, highlighting that they observed an acceleration in bilateral relations with Washington.
"Türkiye is not a country that the U.S. is targeting in tariff wars. They themselves state this. The facts also show it. Our foreign trade with the U.S. is balanced. Last year, it was neck-to-neck," Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said at a summit organized by Daily Sabah's parent company, Turkuvaz Media Group.
Addressing the event, titled "Opportunities in the Changing World Order," Bolat evaluated trade prospects amid tariffs introduced by the new U.S. administration, recent export figures and expectations for the upcoming period.
Answering the questions related to the levies, Bolat said they were in contact with their U.S. counterparts, reiterating, however, a balanced structure of trade and a momentum in ties with Washington, which came to the fore also with the removal of sanctions previously imposed on Syria.
Referring to trade with the U.S., he said: "We have increasing liquified natural gas (LNG) and natural gas imports. We are importing passenger aircraft. We are seeing that the bans and restrictions in the defense industry are slowly being lifted."
"A permit for rocket ammunition sales of nearly $300 million was granted two weeks ago. Efforts are being made to lift CAATSA sanctions," he added.
"There is also a softening in this regard. Sanctions against Syria were lifted with our persuasion. At the political level, with the strong dialogue between our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Trump and the policies implemented, Türkiye-U.S. relations are being tried to be improved, and we are doing well," Bolat said.
Reminding that negotiations are being held with Washington on tariffs, the minister went on to say that right now, "every room of the U.S. Department of Commerce has turned into a negotiation room."
"We are continuing the negotiations there in the same way. We want some improvements. Mutual negotiations are being held," he noted.
"There were additional taxes imposed on the steel and aluminum sectors in 2018. We are also working on some improvements in textiles," he added.
Indeed, the Trade Ministry recently said that the third round of talks was held in Washington. However, Bolat's remarks came as the top U.S. trade court blocked Trump's decision to impose the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on a number of countries, citing that they exceeded the authority given to the president.
Türkiye is exposed to a 10% baseline tariff, being one of a small number of nations with relatively more favorable conditions when it comes to the levies.
Moreover, touching upon exports, he recalled that there was an increase in exports in April. “Our exports increased in three of the first four months of the year: January, March and April. Both our exports of goods and services are going well."
"There was a 0.3% drop in February. The reason is that last year's February had 29 days, this year it had 28. One business day has great importance for us – $1 billion. 2025 is going well, positively and in the right direction in exports of goods and services," Bolat said.
"There is a slight movement in America and Europe, but of course it is not like 2021-2022,” he further said, referring to the high demand during the recovery period from the COVID-19 pandemic and the high inflation and growth rates caused by that demand.
"The balancing process continues. We expect American policies to attack our European, African, Asian and other markets in the Far East. In other words, what will those producers who are from there and have difficulty selling goods to America and who are subject to high tariffs do this time? They will attack Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Gulf, Asia and our markets. They will be our competitors. In any case, the competition will only get worse. We will try to protect our markets here as well," the minister explained.
He also stated there was an export boom in the defense industry, jewelry and automotive sectors, while areas such as machinery products, construction materials, textiles and clothing were stable.
The minister further said that the progress in exports is good compared to the conditions in Europe, reminding that last year, goods exports reached $261.8 billion and services exports came in at $115.2 billion.
"We will share the results of the fifth month with all of Türkiye on Monday (June 2)," he said, referring to preliminary export figures for May.
"As of the first four months, we have an increase of around 5% in service exports, and a 3.9%, or 4%, increase in goods exports. We are also taking imports in a controlled manner. Hopefully, the figures will present a positive picture this month (in terms of exports and imports)," said the minister.
He also provided information that inspections regarding the fight against exorbitant prices and opportunism are continuing, suggesting that approximately TL 5 billion worth of fines were imposed as a result of inspections conducted by provincial trade directorates last year.
Bolat also once again strongly refuted claims about trade with Israel, reiterating that, “Since May 2, 2024, both exports and imports have been zero, no customs transactions have been carried out."
He said that they repeated this multiple times in television appearances, conferences and written statements, dismissing claims as lies.
"Let them continue to lie, we will continue to tell the truth more than they do," he said.