The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a release on a meeting held on 25 August 2021 between Trade Representative Katherine Tai Minister of Trade Mehmet Muş, which included discussions regarding the removal of Turkey's digital services tax (DST). A notice of action in response to Turkey's DST was issued by the USTR in June 2021 including additional tariffs on certain goods from Turkey, although the tariffs are suspended for up to 180 days to provide additional time to complete the ongoing multilateral negotiations on international taxation.

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Readout of Ambassador Katherine Tai's Virtual Meeting with Turkey's Minister of Trade Mehmet Muş

WASHINGTON – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai yesterday met virtually with Turkey's Minister of Trade Mehmet Muş. During the meeting, Ambassador Tai discussed areas of shared interest, such as improving market access for U.S. companies in Turkey, tackling challenges posed by non-market economies, in particular with respect to excess capacity, and WTO reform. She also expressed her view that negotiations in multilateral fora represent the best opportunity to resolve issues around Digital Services Taxes (DSTs). Ambassador Tai stated that the United States views as critical the removal of individual DSTs in connection with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 processes.

Both Ambassador Tai and Minister Muş agreed on the importance of strengthening bilateral trade relations between the United States and Turkey and committed to maintaining an open line of communication moving forward.