Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Erdogan Goes Tariff Crazy: 60% Tariffs, 120% Tariffs and 140% Tariffs

Recep Tayyip Erdogan
By Robert Wenzel

In response to President Trump authorizing the implementation of higher tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey last Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has foolishly responded by instituting a stunning series of high tariffs that will do nothing but hurt Turkish consumers.

Turkey’s Official Gazette reports this morning that the government had raised tariffs on a wide range of U.S. imports, including passenger cars, tobacco and alcohol.

The decree, which was signed by Erdoğan, raised tariffs on alcoholic beverages by 140 percent, on tobacco by 60 percent, and on passenger cars by 120 percent.

Tariffs were also
increased on other US goods, including cosmetics, rice and coal.

Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay commented on the move, stating: “Under the principle of reciprocity, the tax rates for imports of certain products have been increased against the US administration’s conscious attacks on our economy.”

Driving this intense trade battle is the American Andrew Brunson, an evangelical pastor who has been incarcerated in Turkey since 2016 after being accused of helping to plot the 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan. The Trump administration wants him released.

That said, Erdogan is making a terrible error with these tariffs. His country is too small to have any significant impact on U.S.-based globalist firms, in addition to the fact that tariffs hurt consumers in the country instituting the tariffs and the last thing Turkish consumers need to face in a country with an annual price inflation already over 15% is even higher prices.

 Erdogan should just ignore Trump or perhaps tease the protectionist Trump by publicly sending him a copy of Free Trade or Protectionism? by Laurence Vance, with a note, "I feel bad for the American people."




Robert Wenzel is Editor & Publisher of






2 comments:

  1. Clearly Erdogan’s just playing 4-D chess and his real goal is the elimination of tariffs altogether (/s)

    ReplyDelete