US targets Turkey's steel, energy sectors: Update

The US administration today imposed sanctions on senior Turkish government officials and the energy ministry, and raised tariffs on imported Turkish steel products back to 50pc in response to Ankara's military incursion into northern Syria.

"The US is holding the Turkish Government accountable for escalating violence by Turkish forces, endangering innocent civilians, and destabilizing the region," treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

Treasury imposed sanctions on energy minister Fatih Donmez and separately on the energy ministry. The sanctions will complicate the operations of state-controlled energy companies in Turkey or any contracts with foreign suppliers that are signed by Donmez or the energy ministry.

The treasury department said it would issue general licenses to ensure that Turkey continues to meet its energy needs. Treasury set a 30 day window for foreign and US firms to wind down contracts with the energy ministry.

The defense ministry, defense minister Hulusi Akar and interior minister Suleyman Soylu will also be added to the sanctions list.

US president Donald Trump separately announced the steel tariff hike today in a statement on Twitter.

"I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey's economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path," Trump said.

The imposition of the higher tariffs — double the prior rate of 25pc — was linked to Turkey's military advance into a strip of land in northern Syria controlled by Kurdish and allied forces, in a conflict that has drawn in the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his Russian supporters. The Turkish advance came after Trump ordered the roughly 1,000 US forces in the area that had been cooperating with the Kurdish anti-government fighters to pull out.

The Section 232 tariff on steel products from Turkey had been increased from 25pc to 50pc in August 2018 and later reduced back down to 25pc in May 2019.

source: Argus Media