Turkey hits back hard at the United States
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ISTANBUL: Turkey on Wednesday said it was hiking tariffs on imports of several 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 five per cent against the dollar.
The lira´s fall had raised fears 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 that the tariff hikes were ordered "within the framework of reciprocity in retaliation for the conscious attacks on our economy by the US administration".
President Donald Trump had previously announced that the US was doubling steel and aluminium 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 the amount to a doubling of the existing rate, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, in an apparent parallel response to Trump´s move. - APP/AFP
