[JPost] Yippy's mouth earns consequences
"Raising the import tariff on Turkey is a suitable Zionist answer to Erdogan," Smotrich said. "For too many years, the State of Israel struggled with Erdogan's antisemitism. Not on my shift!"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Thursday that Israel would abolish its free trade agreement with Turkey and impose a 100% tariff on imports from Turkey in retaliation for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's decision to halt exports to Israel.
Smotrich submitted the plan for cabinet approval, including the abolition of the Israel-Turkey Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1996.
The FTA was expanded in 2000 to include all industrial goods, abolishing all duties and charges for importing them from Turkey.
By 2007, the FTA had been expanded further to cover a significant amount of agricultural products, including eggs, live plants, vegetables, dried tomatoes, coffee concentrates, various juices (orange, lemon, apple), beer, several types of nuts, and dried figs and apricots. The FTA reduced their tariffs to 0%.
The recent abolition of this agreement will mean that previous tariff rates will be reimposed, and a new 100% will be added on.
Additionally, the Economy, Foreign Affairs, and Finance Minister are expected to take the necessary steps to diversify Israeli imports away from Turkish products and create alternate import sources to reduce Israeli reliance on the Turkish economy.
INCREASE IMPORT DIVERSITY
Additionally, the Economy, Foreign Affairs, and Finance Minister are expected to take the necessary steps to diversify Israeli imports away from Turkish products and create alternate import sources to reduce Israeli reliance on the Turkish economy.
The plan explains that the diversification may cause short-term disruptions but should, in the long term, reduce costs and help mitigate future supply issues due to geopolitical events.
The move is also expected to help improve Israeli industrial resilience and competitiveness in the global markets.
Manufacturers Association of Israel, which claims to represent 1800 members responsible for over 90% of Israeli industrial output, pushed manufacturers to pursue alternative imports from China, Eastern Europe, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, and Taiwan.
| The Times of Israel expands on the theme: |
Turkey’s sudden ban on trade with Israel is already affecting Jews in both countries
From kosher food to construction materials, Israel has long relied on Turkish goods, many of which were supplied by Jewish businesses now suffering after the halt to exports.
Turkey’s Jewish population has been in decline for decades, with spurts of emigration in step with periods of political and economic instability. But between 10,000 and 15,000 Jews live in the country today, most in Istanbul with a smaller community in the Aegean port city of Izmir. Many of those who remain are involved in exports with Israel.
Rami Simon, a Turkish Jew who trades aluminum and construction materials to Israel said he and others he knows are looking into other countries to ship their products to, but it’s an industry based on connections, and new markets are hard to break into. He also noted that he supplied buyers in Gaza and Palestinian areas of the West Bank as well and now cannot ship his products to them because Israeli ports are closed to Turks.
Simon also said he’s pinning his hopes on a ceasefire, even though Hamas and Israel have so far failed to reach one. Hamas has not accepted any of the ceasefire deals offered to it, insisting that only a permanent ceasefire would be tolerable. Israel rejects the idea of any ceasefire that leaves Hamas in power in Gaza.
“Hopefully, we won’t still be thinking about this in a few months when there will be a ceasefire in Gaza. We are waiting for this,” Simon said about the trade embargo.
“If it’s going to take five or six months we’re going to have a big, big issue and problem,” he added. “After that, if we can still not do business, to export to Israel, I think many people are going to try to look for a different solution for their lives, and maybe ultimately leave Turkey.” 
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