CRS Report on US-Turkey Trade Says Trade Ties Are Weak
Congress is examining U.S.-Turkey trade ties -- and the changes to trade policy with Turkey -- more closely, and a recent Congressional Research Service report gives policymakers context for decisions they might make. When Turkey invaded Syria after the U.S. withdrew support for Kurdish forces, there was talk of levying sanctions (see 1910100049, 1910170054 and 1910180060), but since the crisis abated, there was no more discussion of sanctions.
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The report said, “U.S.-Turkish trade ties are relatively weak overall,” with two-way trade in goods less than 1 percent of U.S. global goods trade. The U.S. exported $10.2 billion in goods to Turkey in 2018, with aircraft, engines and parts the top categories, and waste and scrap, cotton, coal and oil next in line. American imports from Turkey were $10.3 billion, with steel the top category, and stone in the top five. Stone was covered by the Generalized System of Preferences at that time. The U.S. banned Turkey from GSP benefits in May 2019, saying it had become too prosperous to deserve the tariff breaks. In 2018, U.S. GSP imports from Turkey (especially jewelry, stone, and motor vehicle parts) accounted for 18 percent of total imports from Turkey -- $1.9 billion.
“The trading relationship is more consequential for Turkey,” the report said. Even though the U.S. buys only 5.5 percent of Turkey's exports, it's Turkey's fourth-largest export market. However, the European Union, which shares a customs union with Turkey, is far and away its most important economic partner, buying nearly 48 percent of Turkish exports. The U.S. has 25 percent tariffs on Turkish steel, which caused Turkish steel exports to fall by 35 percent between 2017 and 2018. Turkey has retaliatory tariffs on $1.8 billion in U.S. goods, including food, scrap, steel, machinery and vehicles.