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Saudi ban on Turkish goods hitting global clothing brands - FT | Ahval
A defacto ban by Saudi Arabia on Turkish goods is hitting the operations of global clothing brands and threatens to widen Turkey’s trade deficit.
A defacto ban by Saudi Arabia on Turkish goods is hitting the operations of global clothing brands and threatens to widen Turkey’s trade deficit.
The Saudi government has banned at imports for products made in Turkey, the Financial Times reported on Monday citing an employee of Spanish clothing company Mango.
Political relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been marred by Turkish support for regional rival Qatar and the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by agents from the Gulf state in Istanbul in 2018. Turkey’s judiciary has recently begun trial proceedings against suspects in the killing and called on Saudi Arabia to hand them over.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey also back opposing factions in the Libya war.
Mango, like other international clothing brands, is looking for a solution to what it terms officially as the slowing down of customs processes for products coming from Turkey, the Financial Times said.
All retailers making products in Turkey and exporting to Saudi Arabia were affected, said Mustafa Gultepe, head of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB).
“We are talking about all global brands that have stores in Saudi Arabia, produce in Turkey and sell over there,” he told the FT.
“Anything made in Turkey or coming through Turkey is . . . not allowed in Saudi,” according to one person located in the Gulf region and briefed on the issue, the FT said.
The Saudi Arabian government denied any existence of a ban, saying it had not “placed any restrictions on Turkish goods”, the FT said. Trade between the countries had not “witnessed any noticeable decline, except for the general impact of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic”, it said.
Turkey exported $17.7 billion of ready-to-wear clothing last year, according to IHKIB. It had a trade surplus of about $1.3 billion with Saudi Arabia in 2019, exporting $3.2 billion worth of products.
Turkey’s trade deficit has widened markedly in 2020, pressuring the lira, which fell to a record low on Friday. It has lost about 25 percent of its value this year.
