Türkiye's $1.4 billion in textile and apparel exports to the U.S. now carries a 12.5% additional Section 301 tariff from the first shipment, after Washington excluded the country from new tariff-free quotas granted to four Asian competitors.

The final executive order, signed by President Donald Trump on July 23 and effective July 25, allows Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia to export specified volumes of textile products to the U.S. without paying the Section 301 duty. India remains subject to a 10% rate. Turkish goods get no quota relief at any volume.

The U.S. Trade Representative grouped roughly 60 economies into three categories during its investigation. Türkiye landed in the third group — the 12.5% tier — after U.S. authorities concluded the country lacks a sufficiently effective system to prevent imports made with forced labor.

Industry participants told business-focused ekonomim.com the policy could push price-sensitive orders toward Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, whose manufacturers gain duty-free access for part of their exports while continuing to compete on lower labor costs. Turkish producers pay the additional tariff on every shipment, compounding a structural cost gap rather than offsetting it.

The numbers behind the exposure

The U.S. has grown in importance for Turkish exporters as European demand has weakened. Turkish suppliers have positioned themselves in the mid- and upper-segment, selling shorter delivery times, flexible production and higher-value products to U.S. brands.

Official figures show Türkiye exported $870.3 million in apparel and $537.9 million in textiles to the U.S. in 2025, totaling $1.4 billion. The market took 5.4% of Türkiye's overall textile and apparel exports of $26.2 billion and accounted for 10.7% of the country's total exports to the U.S., which reached $13.2 billion.

The direction of travel makes the tariff hit harder. While Türkiye's overall textile and apparel exports fell 4.4% in 2025, shipments to the U.S. edged up 1.4% to $1.4 billion — the one growth market Turkish suppliers had been cultivating as EU orders softened.

Quota mechanics still unwritten

Several implementation details remain pending. The USTR is expected to publish Federal Register regulations outlining which products qualify for the tariff-rate quotas, how quotas will be allocated among the four benefiting countries, and the volumes covered.

The agency also retains authority to revise tariffs, exemptions and quota arrangements in the future — meaning the competitive calculus for sourcing teams could shift again as the rules take shape.

For U.S. buyers, the immediate practical question is landed-cost arithmetic: a Turkish garment now enters with a 12.5% surcharge that a quota-eligible Bangladeshi or Cambodian equivalent may not carry, at least up to quota volumes. For Turkish mills and garment factories, the decision converts a modest-growth market into one where they compete against duty-free rivals from the first order.

How Ankara responds — whether through diplomatic channels, forced-labor enforcement upgrades that could trigger a USTR reassessment, or negotiated quota access — remains open. Until the Federal Register rules land and quota volumes are set, the full scale of order migration from Türkiye to the four duty-free Asian suppliers will stay uncertain.