Morocco adds tariffs on apparel from Turkey despite FTA

08 Jan '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Companies in Morocco importing apparel and other textile items from Turkey will have to pay a new Moroccan tariff of 27 per cent despite the Morocco-Turkey free trade agreement (FTA). The tariff, effective from January 1, will continue to impact Morocco-Turkey trade until December 31, 2021. Textiles are one of the main exports of Turkey to Morocco.

Textiles accounted for nearly half of Turkey’s $2.24 billion in total exports to Morocco in 2018.

Morocco and Turkey signed an FTA in 2004 and implemented the agreement in 2006. In the 14 years since the FTA began, Moroccan-Turkish trade ballooned, and sales of Turkish textiles to Morocco reached $1 billion in 2018, according to a report in a newspaper in Morocco.

The 27 per cent tariff will dramatically increase the cost of Turkish clothing in Morocco from the rate of zero per cent a few months ago.

The Moroccan textile tariff for Turkey increased along with other products at the beginning of the year. The 2020 Finance Bill raised the tariff on products taxed at 25 per cent to 30 per cent. Because the rate on Turkish textiles was set to 90 per cent of that tariff rate, it increased from 22.5 per cent in late 2019 to 27 per cent, beginning January 1.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)