Turkey applies the common external customs tariff of the EU to non-agricultural imports from third countries such as the United States and does not impose customs duties on non-agricultural products from countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). High tariff rates on many food and agricultural goods continue to be sustained by Turkey. Fresh fruit tariffs range from 15.4 to 145.8 percent. Tariffs range between 19.5% and 130.0% for processed fruit, fruit juice, and vegetables. U.S. exporters of rice, dried beans, peas, sunflower seeds, and wheat have stated questions posed by the Turkish customs authorities about the value of their goods. Turkey uses a number of export promotion incentives, although programs have been scaled back to comply with EU directives and WTO commitments in recent years. “Published export subsidies ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent of export values are granted to 16 agricultural or processed agricultural product categories in the form of tax credits and debt forgiveness programs and are paid for by taxes on exports of primary products such as hazelnuts and leather” (USTR, 2020).
