The White House says the United States will not lift tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum products.

White House spokesman Sanders said on the 15th that even ifTurkey releases the American pastor Brunson, the United States will not cancelthe import tariff imposed on Turkish steel and aluminum products.

Sanders said at the press conference that the United States’tariff increase was “considered for national security interests,” and theactions taken by the US on detainees such as Brunson were reflected in thesanctions against the two Turkish ministers. Sanders said that Turkey’scounter-measures against the United States are “regrettable” and “mistakenactions” because of retaliation against the United States. Regarding the impact of US pressure on the Turkish economy,Sanders said that the US is paying attention to the Turkish economy and itscurrency depreciation, but Turkey’s economic problems have "have been fora long time", not caused by the pressure from the US.

Turkey issued a presidential decree on the 15th to imposeimport tariffs on some of the goods produced in the United States. Turkish VicePresident Oktay said that the tariffs on some US goods were imposed because theUnited States violated the principle of trade reciprocity and deliberatelyattacked the Turkish economy.

On August 1, the UnitedStates announced that because the American pastor Brunson was imprisoned in Turkey,the US decided to sanction the Turkish Minister of Justice and the Minister ofthe Interior. On the 10th, the United States announced that it would double theimport tariff on Turkish steel and aluminum products, which intensified thedecline of the Turkish currency Lira against the US dollar.