Turkey to boycott U.S. electronics in retaliation for sanctions
Move part of campaign that has spread to businesses like advertising, beauty parlours
ISTANBUL—President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey would boycott U.S. electronic goods, the latest move in escalating jousting between Ankara and Washington that has sent the Turkish lira to record lows.
The boycott, which Mr. Erdogan announced in a speech celebrating the 17th anniversary of his ruling party, is part of a wider campaign Turkey has launched to retaliate against U.S. sanctions, and which has spread to places from the advertising market to beauty parlors.
“We are going to enforce a boycott on U.S. electronic goods,” Mr. Erdogan said. “If they have iPhones, there is also Samsung,” he said, referring to the South Korean cellphone maker.
Turkey and the U.S. are locked in a bitter dispute over the fate of an American pastor. The White House has vowed to pile pressure on Turkey until the Presbyterian minister, Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism charges and as much as 35 years in prison, had been allowed to return home. Turkish authorities say justice must run its course and have slammed tariffs that the U.S. introduced this week on some Turkish imports as an “act of economic war.”
The souring relations have exacerbated anxiety among investors over Turkey’s ability to cope with a heavy load of corporate debt and eroded confidence in the lira. Although it pared some of its recent losses on Tuesday, the lira is down more than 40% this year.
Mr. Erdogan has a track record of pronouncing boycotts that are often not followed by concrete steps. In the most recent instance, in May, he said the government was preparing to boycott Israeli products after Israeli forces had shot dead dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. No such boycott has been enforced.
Still, several Turkish companies have rallied behind the antiU.S. campaign, with Turkish Airlines and Turk Telekom, both partly state-owned, saying they would stop advertising through U.S. media.
“We too are joining the #DontgiveadstoUS campaign and stand
by our state and nation,” Turk Telekom spokesman Hamdi Ates said in a statement. “The necessary instructions have been given.”
Manifestations of anti-U.S. sentiment multiplied on social networks, where some people posted videos of them burning dollar bills and breaking American electronic devices.
Hit hard by the drop in the lira, Ruhi Tas said he had tailored his own boycott. Angry to see a $12,000 debt he contracted in dollars was ballooning in liras, the 43-year-old barber said he had decided to stop offering the “Amerikan” at his salon in the
Black Sea town of Unye.
Although the male cut—short on the side and longer on the top—is very popular among youth in the region, the boycott has spread to other hairdressers, he said.
“I will resume doing the Amerikan when the dollar goes down,” he said, adding he had support from clients. “Tell the U.S. not to mess with Turkey.”
Mr. Erdogan didn’t name any specific U.S. consumer electronics apart from Apple Inc.’s iPhone, and didn’t say how the boycott would be enforced.
Sales of iPhones in Turkey have declined recently: Apple had a roughly 13% share of the Turkish cellphone market in the second quarter, according to Canalys, down from 16% in the same period a year earlier.
And as sales of the company’s flagship product slows generally, a ban in Turkey could present a challenge for Apple. Turkey is a billion-dollar market for the company, which shipped an estimated 1.6 million iPhones to the country in 2017, according to Strategy Analytics, a market research firm.
That total amounted to less than 1% of the 216.8 million phones shipped last year but about 0.7% of revenue, Strategy Analytics said.
Apple, which didn’t respond to requests for comment, updated its corporate-risk statements earlier this month to include the potential for disruption from international trade disputes. A section of its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission noted that trade disputes “could result in tariffs and other protectionist measures that could adversely affect the Company’s business.”
Even if they aren’t targeted by a boycott, companies that import goods into Turkey are likely to record lower demand because the lira’s sharp slide makes such products more expensive.
Inside Istanbul’s upscale Zorlu shopping mall Tuesday, the Apple store was bustling with activity. A shopper named Selin, who declined to give her surname, said she had an iPhone and had come to buy a more modern one.
“I don’t think people who have money will boycotts U.S. goods or stop buying iPhones,” she said.