Trump authorizes sanctions, slaps steel tariffs on Turkey

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday authorized sanctions on Turkey’s leaders, reimposed steel tariffs and ended trade negotiations to protest Ankara’s offensive into  Syria .
“I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey’s economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path,” Trump said in a statement.
The president said he had issued an executive order to allow sanctions on sitting and former Turkish officials — although he has apparently not yet imposed them — and was immediately ending talks on a US-Turkey trade deal.
He said he was reimposing 50 percent tariffs on Turkish steel — one of a series of measures used last year to win the release of a detained US pastor which contributed to a plunge in the value of the country’s lira currency.
In May, Trump reduced tariffs back to 25 percent — in line with levels the protectionist-minded president has imposed on other trading partners including the European Union.
Trump has come under heavy criticism at home for appearing to give his blessing to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who links Syrian Kurdish fighters to separatist militants at home.