Jordan has started on Thursday imposing customs duties on imports from Turkey after terminating a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Customs duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent will be imposed on Turkish imports following the cancellation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) earlier this year, a major hit for businesses that have been enjoying a free access to Turkish markets.
Earlier this year, Jordan suspended the agreement with Turkey, saying that the deal harms the national industry by tipping the balance of trade in favor of Turkey's products.
The government says the deal, which went into effect in 2011, has led to an increase in the imports of Turkish products and caused significant damage to Jordanian businesses, which are unable to compete with Turkish products that receive subsidies from the Turkish authorities. The government said that the FTA with Turkey did not achieve the results it hoped for, thus putting an end to the accord.
Jordan's Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply Tariq al-Hammouri affirmed that this decision is final unless new agreement and conditions that meet both countries’ interest are put in place. Such agreements shouldn’t be at the expense of the national economy or domestic industries, he added.
The decision is part of the government's efforts to review all free trade agreements and study their benefit to the economy.
Representatives of the industrial sector in Jordan have repeatedly complained about the deal and called for revising it, while several others called for revoking the deal.
Jordan is a member in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), Agadir Agreement, and a party to the EU Association Agreement, Barcelona Declaration. It has also entered FTAs with the US, European Free Trade Association States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Singapore, Canada, and Turkey).
