Turkey will impose a 40% additional tariff on imports of vehicles from China to halt a possible deterioration of its current account balance and protect domestic automakers, the trade ministry said on Saturday.
China is facing increasing trade pressures worldwide over
its growing exports of electric vehicles, which many countries claim are being
heavily subsidized by Beijing to support its sputtering economy. The European
Commission is expected to announce next week whether to impose provisional
extra tariffs.
The additional Turkish tariff will be set at a minimum of
$7,000 per vehicle, with effect from July 7, a presidential decision published
in the country's Official Gazette showed.
"An additional tariff will be imposed on import of
conventional and hybrid passenger vehicles from China in order to increase and
protect the decreasing share of domestic production," the trade ministry
said.
In a statement, the ministry also said the additional tariff
decision was made taking into current account deficit targets and efforts to
encourage domestic investment and production.
The decision said if the 40% tariff calculated from the
price of an imported vehicle is under $7,000 then the minimum tariff of $7,000
will be charged.
In 2023, Turkey imposed additional tariffs on electric
vehicle imports from China and brought some regulations regarding EV
maintenance and services.
The government is encouraging more production and exports to
reduce the chronic current account deficit, which stood at $45.2 billion last
year.