Turkey hits back with tariffs at US

Hikes on rice, liquor, tobacco, cosmetics, cars and iPhones

Turkey on Wednesday said it was hiking tariffs on imports of key US products in retaliation for American sanctions against Ankara, as a bitter dispute between the two allies that sent the Turkish lira into freefall showed no sign of ending.

The lira – which had lost just under a quarter of its value in trade on Friday and Monday – however continued to claw back some ground on financial markets, rallying over 5 percent against the dollar.

The lira’s fall had raised fears that Turkey was on the verge of a fully fledged economic crisis, especially in its banking system, that could spill over into Europe and other markets.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said the tariff hikes were ordered “within the framework of reciprocity in retaliation for the conscious attacks on our economy by the US administration.”

US President Donald Trump had previously announced that the US was doubling steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey, as the two NATO allies row over the detention by Turkish authorities of American pastor Andrew Brunson.

The hikes were published in Turkey’s Official Gazette in a decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly described the crisis as an “economic war” that Turkey will win.

The tariff increases amount to a doubling of the existing rate, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, in an apparent parallel response to Trump’s move.

The decree said the move brought tariffs to 50 percent on imports of US rice, 140 percent on hard alcoholic drinks like spirits, 60 percent on leaf tobacco and 60 percent on cosmetics.

The tariffs on auto imports are now up to 120 percent, depending on the type of vehicle.

Erdogan on Tuesday said Turkey would boycott US electronic goods like iPhones, even though he has himself been photographed repeatedly using the product.

He also made his now famous speech on the night of the July 2016 failed coup calling citizens out into the street through an iPhone app.

The lira was trading on Wednesday at 6.02 to the dollar, a gain in value on the day of 5.5 percent.