While many scoffed at the Trump Administration’s claim it could destroy the entire Turkish economy if it wanted to, President Trump seems to have decided he wants to, and in a new statement Monday, vowed to “swiftly destroy” the Turkish economy for its offensive in Syria.



How this is to be achieved isn’t at all clear. The Trump Administration has said they will boost tariffs on Turkish steel to 50 percent. Though Turkey has a fairly large steel industry, the United States does not buy much from them.



Perhaps a more impactful move is that Trump is suspending ongoing negotiations on a $100 billion trade deal with Turkey. Turkey is a semi-important trade partner for the US, and vice versa, so the lack of a deal could harm interests on both sides.



Trump has demanded that Turkey immediately stop the invasion of northern Syria, and has bragged about “big sanctions coming,” which has been praised by some hawks in Congress. Others, however, are complaining it doesn’t go far enough, though it’s not clear what theoretically the US Treasury Department could try to do to go beyond totally destroying Turkey’s economy.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz