Geri
Machinery manufacturing industry decreased by 4.1 percent in the first quarter of the year to 6.6 billion dollars. According to the data announced by the Machinery Exporters' Association, in the first quarter of the year, machinery manufacturing exports decreased by 7.7 percent on quantity basis and 4.1 percent on value basis. Machinery exports, which decreased by 0.7 percent on an annual basis to 28.1 billion dollars, amounted to 2.3 billion dollars on a monthly basis. In the first quarter, $ 753 million was exported to Germany, $ 400 million to the USA, $ 90 million to Russia. The rate of increase in exports to Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and Romania varied between 9.2 percent and 31.2 percent. Textile and garment machinery exports increased by 29 million dollars, while construction and mining machinery exports decreased by 120 million dollars and washing and drying machinery exports decreased by 47 million dollars. Internal combustion engines and parts took the first place in the increase in exports to Spain with an increase of 158 percent to 72.5 million dollars and to Romania with an increase of 186 percent to 55 million dollars. Kutlu Karavelioğlu, President of the Association of Machinery Exporters, made some evaluations on the subject. Karavelioğlu said, ‘In machinery foreign trade, where the US imports 530 billion dollars a year and has a deficit of 280 billion dollars, the EU has a surplus of 150 billion dollars and China has a surplus of 340 billion dollars. Considering that 35 percent of the total machinery manufacturing in the world is carried out in China and 53 percent in the Far East, and that this distribution is reflected in the competitiveness and technology development capacity of countries, this situation pushes the USA to take harsh measures.’ Karavelioğlu also stated that it is of great importance how China will utilise its production capacity and said: ‘If this chaotic environment, which is clearly unsustainable, evolves into a relatively advantageous permanent order between Türkiye and the US, and if it is believed that this will attract investment to the country, the prerequisite will be the protection of Türkiye 's investment and operating environment from external threats as much as possible.’ Karavelioğlu stated that the fact that European economies are less dependent on the US market compared to China and the belief that they will not face as harsh measures as China creates optimism in the main market:
‘Simulations carried out by German institutes for the global economy and trade show that if the announced additional customs duties were to go into effect in full, the EU's economic output would decline by 0.2 percent in the first year, while Germany's would fall by only 0.3 percent. In the first year, when global trade in goods could fall by 6 percent and global output by 0.8 percent, the EU's biggest advantage is its common market, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of its trade. The EU's self-confident opposition is fuelled by a projected 20% contraction in US exports of goods and a projected 7% inflation rate. Convinced that this chaotic process will not serve to change the geography of production and achieve sustainable trade balances, the EU emphasises that the best response to the current US policy is to integrate more, not less, with its trading partners worldwide. The opening to Central Asian Republics, added to the MERCOSUR and India FTAs they have recently accelerated, is a strategic move that focuses not only on trade expansion but also on energy security and critical raw materials. As one of its reliable partners, we should keep all the strategic moves of the EU, which states at every opportunity that it will emphasise ‘fair and free trade’ instead of ‘fair and reciprocal trade’, in our focus.’
