Turkey doubled tariffs on some US imports including alcohol, cars and tobacco on Wednesday in retaliation for US actions, but the lira rallied further after the central bank’s liquidity moves had the effect of supporting the currency, Reuters reported.
A decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan doubled Turkish tariffs on passenger cars to 120 percent, on alcoholic beverages to 140 percent and on leaf tobacco to 60 percent. Tariffs were also doubled on goods such as cosmetics, rice and coal.
The duties were raised in response to the US administration’s “deliberate attacks on our economy,” Vice President Fuat Oktay wrote on Twitter. Last Friday, US President Donald Trump said he had authorized higher tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey.
The United States was the fourth largest source of imports to Turkey last year, accounting for $12 billion of imports, according to IMF statistics. Turkey’s exports to the United States last year amounted to $8.7 billion, making it Turkey’s fifth-largest export market.
Turkish trade minister Ruhsar Pekcan said the doubling of customs tariffs on some imported US products would amount to $533 million, the state run Anadolu news agency reported.
Ankara acted amid increased tension between the two NATO allies over Turkey’s detention of American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson and other diplomatic issues, which have helped send the lira tumbling to record lows against the dollar.
The currency has lost more than 40 percent against the dollar this year, driven by worries over President Erdoğan’s growing influence over the economy and his repeated calls for lower interest rates despite high inflation.
The rebound of around 6 percent on Wednesday, briefly strengthening to less than 6.0 against the dollar, came after the central bank squeezed lira liquidity in the market, effectively pushing up rates and supporting the currency.
Optimism about better relations with the European Union after a Turkish court released two Greek soldiers pending trial and a banking watchdog’s step to limit foreign exchange swap transactions have also helped the lira.
“They are squeezing lira liquidity out of the system now and pushing interest rates higher,” Cristian Maggio, head of emerging markets strategy at TD Securities.
“Rates have gone up by 10 percent. … The central bank has not done this through a change in the benchmark rates, but they are squeezing liquidity, so the result is the same,” Maggio said.
A treasury desk trader at one bank said this showed relations with the EU could recover “while tense relations continue with the USA.”
The lira was also helped by a step from the banking watchdog BDDK, cutting the limit for Turkish banks’ forex swap, spot and forward transactions with foreign banks to 25 percent of a bank’s equity.
“Remarkable turnaround,” Tim Ash, Bluebay Asset Management senior emerging markets analyst wrote in a client note. “They are killing offshore lira liquidity to stop foreigners shorting the lira,” he said.