Trump Says Again US Seeking to Increase Trade With Turkey to Reach $100 Billion Yearly
President Donald Trump, in a press conference with the president of Turkey on Nov. 13, said trade with Turkey “could be many times larger" than it is now, and that his administration has the goal of roughly quadrupling the volume of trade between the two countries, which would be $100 billion in two-way trade. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. goods exported to Turkey were valued at $10.2 billion, while goods imported totaled $10.3 billion.
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The Turkish president said they are talking about how to reach the $100 billion threshold as quickly as possible. He said he hopes there would be no policies that would make that more difficult, but did not specifically mention steel tariffs, the exit from the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, nor the specter of sanctions. The top import categories from Turkey in 2018 were machinery, vehicles, carpets and other textile coverings, steel, and returns. The top exports to Turkey were aircraft, fuel, steel, machinery and cotton. Trump added as an aside that "our trade agreement with China is moving along very rapidly."