Turkey’s plan to impose anti-dumping duties on US cotton imports will drive up costs for its own textile producers, hurting the competitiveness of their exports. Turkey has decided to place a three per cent duty on US cotton imports, saying that US cotton is hurting the domestic cotton industry.

The spat is likely to put strain on trade relations between one of the world's top fiber growers and one of its biggest customers at a time of weak global prices and demand. Imports on a cost, insurance and freight basis will incur due to anti-dumping duties.

Turkey’s decision is expected to push up raw material costs of textile producers by two or three per cent and affect price competitiveness of Turkish exports. Turkey is the second biggest buyer of US cotton, with shipments ranging from 1.5 million to 2 million bales per year. Turkey exported 17 billion dollars worth of garments and ready-to-wear clothing last year and eight billion dollars worth of textiles and raw materials.

US cotton prices have been under pressure from huge global inventories as demand for manmade fibers like polyester has stolen market share. In fact the world’s cotton farmers are struggling with weak prices.