Trade Minister Ömer Bolat conveyed Thursday Ankara's aim to continue actively using measures against unfair practices and the effective defense policy tools supporting the country's producers and exporters along with the import regime, which he said was updated accordingly this year.
In his post on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter, Bolat recalled that Türkiye's imports last year decreased by 1% compared to 2022, reaching $361.8 billion (TL 10.91 trillion).
Stating that the foreign trade deficit decreased by 3.2% in the same period, the minister said that imports entered a declining trend on an annual basis with the effects of the measures taken in foreign trade policy since August last year.
Bolat pointed out that after July 2023, the export-import coverage ratio increased steadily and this ratio increased to 79% in December 2023.
Last year marked a new all-time high as Türkiye's outbound shipments reached $255.8 billion, despite global challenges, the crises in its near geography and devastating earthquakes that struck the country's southeastern region.
The figure marked the third straight annual peak and surpassed the target set in the government's medium-term program (MTP), which was unveiled in early September.
The figure is up 0.6% from $254 billion in 2022. Sales totaled $225.4 billion in 2021 after they were hit by the coronavirus pandemic and dropped to as low as $169.5 billion in 2020.
The MTP export estimates were $255 billion for 2023 and $267 billion for 2024. At $361.8 billion, imports in 2023 also came below the program's estimate of $367 billion.
The minister also reported that they have implemented 197 measures with proactive import precautions and effective defense tools, while 52 investigations are ongoing.
Furthermore, he also mentioned that the ministry had concluded 161 anti-dumping investigations, 11 safeguard measures and 77 investigations against the nullification of measures to protect companies in various sectors, including iron and steel, textiles, apparel, petrochemicals, paper and solar panels, from unfair competition and harm through imports.
He attributed the decline in imports partly to the drop in international energy prices but also highlighted the impacts of the steps the ministry had undertaken against unfair practices in importing products such as gold, automotive, steel, textile and apparel in the second half of last year.
Pointing out that they provided additional protection for many additional products with effective defense policy tools and dynamic tax policies in trade, in line with the needs of the producing and exporting sectors and updated the import regime for 2024 accordingly, the minister said: "In order to protect our domestic producers and therefore our exports against unfair competition and damage caused by imports, we will continue to effectively use trade policy defense tools, in accordance with international rules and prioritize production and employment in our country."
Earlier this week, the minister noted they were "working to ensure a permanent improvement in the current account balance," highlighting the decreasing trend observed in the last few months.
The current account is the most complete measure of trade because it includes investment flows and trade in merchandise and services. The fall came as Türkiye embraced more conventional policymaking following elections last year.
Since July, the annualized foreign trade deficit has been declining each month, while the 12-month rolling current account outlook has been improving, Bolat said.
The 12-month rolling current account deficit fell from $50.9 billion in October to $49.6 billion in November last year, the latest numbers from the country's central bank showed last week.
The improvement in the current account deficit on an annualized basis is expected to become more evident in the first quarter of 2024, in line with the targets set in the medium-term program, Bolat said.
"We are determined to move the Turkish economy to a more competitive and strong position with our policies designed within the scope of innovation, production, investment, employment, export and fair distribution," the minister added.