FTA RESEARCH
A. Numbers, import/exports goods and useful notes about Turkey’s trade ties
with Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
B. Top trade partners of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan
C. Information of Turkey’s FTAs with Syria, Jordan and Lebanon
D. Insight on agreed and sticking points on FTA talks.
All information gathered from Undersecretary for Foreign Trade stats, as well as from
my source who forwarded some recent figures & information.
Numbers, import/exports goods and useful notes about Turkey’s trade ties with
Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
1. Turkish – Israeli Trade
1000$
Export (to
Israel)
Import (from
Israel)
Volume
Balance
2000
650.142
505.482
1.155.624
144.660
2001
805.218
529.489
1.334.707
275.729
2002
861.434
544.467
1.405.901
316.967
2003
1.082.998
459.488
1.542.486
623.510
2004
1.315.292
714.143
2.029.435
601.149
2005
1.466.913
804.691
2.271.604
662.222
2006
1.529.158
782.149
2.311.307
747.009
2007
1.658.195
1.081.743
2.739.938
576.452
2008
1.935.243
1.441.760
3.377.003
493.483
Years
Main trade goods:
Notes:
Turkey exports to Israel (top five); motor land vehicles, iron and steel, nuclear
reactors, electrical machines and utilities, plastic and plastic goods.
Turkey imports from Israel: (top five); plastics, petrochemical goods, motor land
vehicles, iron and steel, cauldron and machines
1 – Turkey and Israel has FTA since 1997.
2 – Turkey’s arms imports from Israel ranks 10th on the import list. This could be due to
the fact that most of the arms deals are modernization projects, which are not included
here.
2 –Turkish – Syrian Trade
Trade numbers – 1000$
Export (to
Syria)
Year
Change
(%)
Import (from
Syria)
Change
Volume
Balance
(%)
1999
232.210
-
307.001
-
539.211
-74.791
2000
184.267
-20,6
545.240
77,6
729.507
-360.973
2001
281.141
52,6
463.476
-15,0
744.617
-182.335
2002
266.772
-5,1
506.247
9,2
773.019
-239.475
2003
410.755
54,0
413.349
-18,4
824.104
-2.594
2004
394.783
-3,9
357.656
-13,5
752.439
37.127
2005
551.627
39,7
272.180
-23,9
823.807
279.447
2006
608.140
10,2
187.006
-31,3
795.146
421.134
2007
797.766
31,2
376.959
101,6
1.174.271
420.653
2008
1.115.012
39,8
636.761
68,9
1.751.774
478.252
2009
1.424.982
27,8
327.640
-48,5
1.752.622
1.097.342
2009/9
983.321
-
234.231
-
1.217.552
749.090
2010/9
1.266.354
28,8
565.205
-55,4
1.831.559
701.149
Main trade goods:
Note:
Turkey exports to Syria (top five); non-metal mineral products, cement, coal and
crude oil products, fuel oil,
Turkey imports from Syria: (top five); coal and crude oil products, crude oil, fuel
oil, textile products
-
Turkey and Syria signed FTA in 2007. There are exceptions mostly on
agricultural products.
3. Turkish – Lebanon Trade
1,000$
Export to
Lebanon
Year
Change
(%)
Import from
Lebanon
Change
Volume
Balance
(%)
1999
161.748
-
11.071
-
172.820
150.676
2000
129.265
-20
22.178
100
151.443
107.087
2001
183.880
42
26.023
17
209.904
157.856
2002
187.338
2
41.921
61
229.260
145.417
2003
148.126
-21
71.709
71
219.836
76.416
2004
234.400
58
147.355
105
381.755
87.045
2005
195.910
-16
144.973
-2
340.883
50.936
2006
240.598
23
126.685
-13
367.284
113.913
2007
393.216
63
116.013
-8
509.230
277.202
2008
665.054
69
178.780
54
843.835
486.274
2009
686.453
3,2
108.800
-39,1
795.253
577.653
2009/9
482.420
----
75.098
----
557.518
407.321
2010/9
451.082
-6,5
172.115
129,1
623.197
278.967
Main trade goods:
-
Turkey exports to Lebanon (top five); Coal and crude oil products, iron and steel,
clothes and accessories, textile, different end products
Turkey imports from Lebanon: (top five); metal ore and metal wreckage,
inorganic chemicals, textile materials, gas, natural gas
Notes:
Lebanon has FTA with Syria since 1993 and with Jordan since 2002.
4. Turkish – Jordanian Trade
1,000$
Year
Export to
Jordan
Change (%)
Import
from
Jordan
Change
(%)
Volume
Balance
2005
288.648
-
28.320
-
316.968
260.328
2006
321.660
11,4
9.319
-67,1
330.979
312.341
2007
389.305
21,0
11.597
24,4
400.902
377.708
2008
460.738
18,3
25.289
118,1
486.027
435.449
2009
455.298
-1,2
20.354
-19,5
475.652
434.944
2009/9
295.410
----
14.841
----
310.251
280.569
2010/9
405.489
37,2
23.650
59,36%
429.139
381.839
Main trade goods:
-
Turkey exports to Jordan (top five); iron and steel, coal and crude oil products,
metal end products, some industrial machines, textile products
Turkey imports from Jordan: (top five); inorganic chemicals, rare earth elements,
textile products, machines, plastic and plastic products.
Top trade partners of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan
Syria:
Main export partners
Iraq %30.9, Turkey % 6.9, Germany % 9.4, Lebanon %
9.3, Italy % 6.1
Main import partners
Saudi Arabia % 12.9, China % 8.7, Italy %5.9, UAE % 6.3,
Turkey % 4.1
Lebanon:
Main export partners
Syria (26.04%), UAE (14.46%), Saudi Arabia (6.87%),
Switzerland (5.97%), Turkey (% 2,3)
Main import partners
France (10.84%), USA (9.44%), Syria (9.42%), Italy (7.01%),
China (6.91%), Germany (5.43%), Ukraine (4.55%), Turkey (%
4,31)
Jordan:
Main export partners
India (%16,2), Iraq (%16,1), USA (%13,1), Saudi Arabia
(%6,9), UAE (%4,6), Turkey (%0,3)
Main import partners
Saudi Arabia (%21,1), China (%10,4), Germany (%6), USA
(%4,6), Egypt (%4,5), Ukraine (%4,3), Turkey (%3,0)
Information of Turkey’s FTAs with Syria, Jordan and Lebanon
-
Turkey has a free trade agreement with Syria since 2007.
Turkey has signed an FTA with Jordan on Dec 1, 2009, which is yet to be ratified.
Turkey has signed an FTA with Lebanon Nov 24, 2010, expected to be ratified in
2011.
INSIGHT
The source did not respond to my specific question on agreed/sticking points in FTA
talks. But she has said some general things on the same issue before. She told me that, for
the case of Jordan (as well as Syria and Lebanon) some agricultural and industrial goods
will enter Turkish markets without any hindrance. However, Turkish goods will face
some taxes until they gradually fade away according to the terms of the technical details
of the FTA. Source said this was applied to Syria, so even though she doesn’t know the
details, same thing will apply to Jordan and Lebanon too.
Unfortunately, I am unable to detect what specific sectors are protected in FTA terms.