The US should advocate for free and fair trade globally, especially with key partners like Türkiye, where numerous collaboration opportunities exist, said the head of the chamber of commerce in Denver, the capital of the Western US state of Colorado, visiting Istanbul for a trade event.
The opportunities between Colorado and Türkiye, particularly Istanbul, are tremendous, J. J. Ament, the chamber’s president and CEO, told Anadolu.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce has been Colorado’s largest business organization and the leading voice for the region’s business community for over 150 years.
“We need to make sure that those barriers are minimal, so that there is free trade and free investment flowing between both of our communities,” he underlined.
Speaking at a meeting in Istanbul of the Foreign Economic Relations Board’s (DEIK) Türkiye-US Business Council (TAIK), he stressed that there are many opportunities for the countries to work together, and that Denver is a geographically desirable location for Turkish investors seeking opportunities in the United States.
The state of Colorado, the city of Denver, and the chamber will work with Turkish companies to ensure that they can take advantage of all available incentives, he assured.
“There are many opportunities for our private sector and our public sector to work together to make sure that every Turkish investment is successful,” he added.
He said involvement with a chamber of commerce in the US is critical for success in the American system because it assists businesses with tax and regulatory policies.
“The chamber of commerce plays that role of intermediary between the private sector and the public sector, making sure that the businesses have the things that they need from the public sector, and that the public sector also is aligned to make sure that the businesses can be successful,” he said.
$100B TARGET
Murat Özyeğin, the Türkiye-US Business Council head, said it is working closely with the state of Colorado, Denver, and other cities to increase the depth of investment and trade between the two countries and cities.
“The aim here is for the companies from Denver to evaluate their potential to make trade partners or different investments in Türkiye,” he said about the Istanbul event, which was held on Thursday.
Turkish companies should also look into investment opportunities in the United States, particularly in Denver, he stressed.
Özyeğin said states in the US host trade and industry in many different fields, and that the council has established seven different state committees in the US.
Each state has different focus areas within its own framework, he said, adding: “One of the specialties of Denver is that Turkish Airlines recently launched direct flights from Istanbul to Denver.
“Of course, this is also extremely valuable for our businesspeople and their businesspeople to reach Istanbul in a much faster and more practical way.”
He stressed that the Turkish-U.S. trade volume is continuing to grow rapidly. The two countries trade $32.5 billion in goods, and when services are included, the trade volume rises to $45-46 billion, he said.
He stressed: “We have a target of $100 billion, which was agreed between our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump in 2019 (during his first term) and set as a forward-looking target.
“TAIK also have a working group focused solely on bilateral trade in order to reach $100 billion.”
This working group evaluates areas of opportunity, he said. TAIK published a report with an international consulting firm in 2013 and 2019 identifying areas where there are growth opportunities to reach the $100 billion level.
TARIFFS
On Trump’s tariffs announced in April, Özyeğin noted that the US has suspended additional tariffs for all trade partners except China for 90 days.
“After the bilateral negotiations between the countries and the US are finalized, we will again intensify our efforts to revive this report, as 60 days are left to this 90-day period, and we will again intensify our efforts to take even more confident steps towards our target of $100 billion,” he said.
The trade deficit between the two countries is around $500 million, which should not upset either side, Özyeğin added.
He said: “When we look at the foreign trade partners of Türkiye and the US, Türkiye is a country that is able to establish much closer cooperation in this sense and does not need to put larger tariff barriers between them.
“We hope that with the mutual increase in long-term investments, Türkiye and the US will reach the $100 billion trade volume.”