Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree to raise tariffs on some of the U.S. imports including cars, alcohol and tobacco. According to an official report, the decree raised the tariffs on passenger cars by 120 percent, alcohol by 140 percent and tobacco by 60 percent. Tariffs on cosmetics, rice and coal were also increased. The Turkish move comes after the Trump administration doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey. President Erdogan said it was against the rules of the World Trade Organization and called it an “economic war,” after which the Turkish leader called on his citizens to boycott American made electronics.
Meanwhile, the deteriorating relations between the United States and Turkey has provided tail wind to the strengthening of relations between Ankara and Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, revealed that Russia has been discussing for some time the possibility of using national currencies to settle bilateral trade deals with Turkey, China and Iran. According to the Russian top diplomat, that if realized, the effects will over time diminish the role of the U.S. dollar as the currency of global trade. (Sync D 1 1 01:16 – 01:47) Minister Lavrov did not, however, make any commitments for Russia to drop the dollar in trade with Turkey, whose lira currency has significantly plummeted to an all time low.