President's Message
Updating the Customs Union Should Be Our Strategic Priority
The year 2025 we left behind has been a truly challenging test not only for our country, but for all of us on a global scale. Rising geopolitical risks, peaking production costs and bottlenecks in access to finance; It has exhausted our industrialists and all our producers. The biggest pain our exporters are experiencing today is the exchange rate, which unfortunately remains far below the inflation rate, and the strong TL balance.
This situation weakens our competitiveness and seriously reduces our profitability in foreign markets, which we have won with a lot of effort. Moreover, global uncertainties are not limited to the economy only; Reignited tariff wars and escalating Iran-US tensions continue to shake predictability and threaten stability in global markets. In order to both maintain our competitiveness and defend our national interests; We wholeheartedly believe that all these balances, from exchange rates to costs, should be observed with sensitivity that will not crush our producers
I would like to draw your attention to a strategic development that closely concerns our foreign trade: the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. India's removal of tariffs on EU-origin goods will increase EU exports to this market. However, on the other side of the coin, India's entry into the EU market with low tariffs may expose our exports to asymmetric competition.
As Türkiye, we must act proactively in updating the Customs Union and opening sector-based dialogue channels with India. We have to turn our geographical proximity and Customs Union harmony into a strategic advantage in this new period.
On the other hand, competition in foreign trade is not shaped only through tariffs. Now the rules of the game are changing. Topics such as green transformation, sustainable production and carbon footprint have become essential elements of trade. The Borderline Carbon Regulation Mechanism (SKDM) introduced by the European Union means additional costs for countries engaged in carbon-intensive production. This mechanism directly concerns our exporters, especially those operating in iron-steel, cement, aluminum and energy-intensive sectors.
For this reason, our companies should accelerate their green transformation investments; It is of great importance to support energy efficiency, use of renewable energy and transition to sustainable production models. Otherwise, we may be in a disadvantaged position not only due to price competition but also due to carbon costs.