Turkish lira plunges 15% versus dollar after Trump authorizes doubling metals tariffs on Turkey

The Turkish lira added to its steep losses on Friday, hitting a fresh record low, after President Donald Trump authorized the doubling of metals tariffs on Turkey. The lira traded down 15 percent against the U.S. dollar at 6.38 after Trump made the comment in a tweet. The currency also traded down 20 percent earlier in the day, reaching a record low.

The White House later said in a statement: “As he stated, the President has authorized the preparation of documents to raise tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Turkey. Section 232 tariffs are imposed on imports from particular countries whose exports threaten to impair national security as defined in Section 232, independent of negotiations on trade or any other matter.” Trump’s tweet and the White House comment came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked citizens to convert their dollars and other foreign currencies as well as gold holdings to local lira.

Turkish stocks also fell on Friday as the iShares MSCI Turkey ETF dropped 14.9 percent. The ETF was already down 42.3 percent this year prior to Friday’s losses. The sharp drop in Turkish assets came after a delegation returned from Washington with no apparent progress on the detention of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who is charged with supporting a group blamed for an attempted coup in 2016. Last month, Trump threatened to slap “large sanctions” on the country if it refuses to free Brunson. The U.S. then announced on Aug. 1 sanctions on Turkey’s justice and interior ministers, prohibiting U.S. citizens from doing business with them.

Turkish lira plunges 15% versus dollar after Trump authorizes doubling metals tariffs on Turkey, CNBC, Aug 10