Moroccan government decided to impose restriction, for 5 years. All Turkish products. Also, imposed unprecedented restrictions on Turkish store chains working in Morocco.
As we have written earlier, Morocco’s government, worried that a 2004 free trade deal with Turkey has harmed its manufacturers and retailers, said last week that talks that began with Ankara in January led to an amendment in August.
A trade ministry source said the amendment allows Morocco to raise duties by up to 90% on 1,200 products including textiles and clothing for five years.
Turkey’s trade ministry declined to comment.
Giyasettin Eyyupkoca, head of Turkey’s Laleli Industry and Business Association, said Morocco has long imposed the highest legal duties on Turkish imports in order to support domestic production.
But in recent months exporters have faced “unofficial and undocumented” delays at the border, he said. “It even takes 10-12 days to clear our goods through customs, instead of two days as usual.”
Eyyupkoca said worries about a “tougher stance” from North African countries were heightened given rising trade barriers in the Gulf, where Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce has called for a boycott of Turkish products on political grounds.
‘KEEP TURKEY OUT’
Turkey exported $2.2 billion in goods to Morocco in 2019, creating a trade deficit for Rabat and prompting some Moroccan lawmakers and industry officials to complain of unfair competition.
