Turkish Textile Exports to Morocco Surge 30%, Challenging Local Industry

According to data from the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (İTHİB), Turkish textile and raw materials exports increased by 30.4% between January and August 2022 to reach 44,000 tons, reports the Turkish magazine Textilegence. Yet Morocco had, in the past, the strongest increase in the quantity of textiles and raw materials imported among the main export destinations of Turkey, Italy, Germany, the United States, Spain and France.

Based on the observation that Turkish exports to Morocco of finished textile and clothing products grew by 175% between 2013 and 2017, thus weakening several Moroccan industrial units oriented towards the domestic market, Morocco had decided in January 2018 to apply on a provisional basis a preferential safeguard measure on imports of certain textile and clothing products originating in Turkey, in the form of an additional ad valorem duty equivalent to 90% of the import duty applicable to them under the common law regime for a period of 200 days, then until December 31, 2021. This safeguard measure, which was supposed to allow the Moroccan textile sector to catch its breath, is showing its limits more and more.