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As Syria continues to build a new order after 13 years of civil war, the interim government has started to apply the same customs regulations at all border crossings as of January 11. Before the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, customs tariffs differed as different forces guarded the border crossings. The Assad regime imposed high customs duties at the border crossings with Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, while the Syrian Salvation Government administered lower duties at the Babel-Hawa border crossing with Turkey. Following the determination of the Syrian Land and Sea Crossings Administration to consolidate the customs tariffs, the customs duties on goods imported from Turkey have allegedly boosted by 300% to 500%. While this negative development, which caused a backlash in the business world, may harm Turkey's trade relations with Syria and the Syrian people may have dilemma in accessing commodities due to high customs duties, the Ministry of Trade made a written statement on the issue. In the statement, it was reported that talks were held with Syria in the fields of trade, customs and foreign policy and that a face-to-face meeting will also be held. On the other hand, it was stated that our willingness to realize a comprehensive free trade agreement was jointly shared and it was emphasized that the companies of our country will continue to contribute to the development efforts of the new government of Syria. According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), Turkey exported nearly 2 billion dollars to Syria in 2024. Among the most exported product groups were milling (malt, starch, inulin, wheat gluten), animal-vegetable oils and plastics. Iron and steel exports also reached 75 million dollars.
