Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday that his country will boycott US electronic goods, saying it’s important to keep a firm political stance amid the diplomatic row with the US and a considerable slide in the lira.

“There is an economic attack against Turkey. Previously, such things were done more secretly and now they are coming at us openly. We can do two things, economically and politically. From an economic position, we take actions, our Finance Ministry and Treasury are working day and night. In addition, we will boycott electronic goods from the United States. They have iPhone but on the other hand there is Samsung. We have the local brand Venus Vestel, we will use them,” he said.

The statement comes just a few days after US President Donald Trump said on his Twitter account that he had authorized “a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey,” also noting that the Turkish lira was collapsing.

Erdogan, addressing the situation, has warned the US that Turkey might “look for new friends and allies” due to Washington’s disrespect towards his country. He also noted that Trump’s decision on tariffs was against the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Source: Websites