Multilateral Trading System Under Strain: The U.S. And Turkish Measures May Hit Trade Between The Two Countries

Introduction

The recent political tensions between the United States of America ("U.S.") and Turkey have affected in a significant way the trade relations between the two countries in a context of already heated global trade environment (some even describe it as a trade war).

In order to summarize the current state of the trade relations between the two countries, (i) the context in which the debated trade tensions emerged will be identified, (ii) Turkey's retaliatory measures in this context will be described, and (iii) the U.S. response to Turkey's retaliation will be briefly dealt with.

1. The U.S. Context of the Current Trade Tensions

The U.S. Department of Commerce's ("DOC") reports to the U.S. President Donald Trump released during the month of January 2018 may properly be considered as the trigger of the current so-called trade war¹. Indeed, the DOC conducted two investigations pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 in the effect