Could Turkey-Egypt FTA be under threat?

Legislation | | MIC Customs Solutions |

Egypt wants out of a trade deal that it says is now more beneficial to Turkey.


The free trade agreement between Turkey and Egypt could be under threat after ministers in Egypt criticized the deal in a parliamentary meeting.

Industry Committee member Hafez Omran was quoted by Al-Monitor as saying the arrangement was no longer in Egypt's interests because of the criteria that had been agreed to.

"Turkish exporters to Egypt are granted export subsidies from Turkey with the aim of exporting products to the Egyptian market at prices less than the manufacturing cost, which affects the Egyptian industry in terms of its competitiveness," he commented.

Egypt and Turkey signed their FTA in 2005 and it entered into force in March 2007, but it was supposed to expire at the end of 2020. Since its implementation, all restrictions on customs duties for goods between the two nations have been suspended.

It comes after Egyptian MPs called upon the Ministry of Trade and Industry for written clarification on the timeline of the agreement, also pointing out that the current conditions unfairly favored Turkey.