Trade Turkey hit with tax on Syrian peace dividend By William Sellars January 17, 2025, 3:43 PM Arab World Press via Reuters Connect Syrian workers unload a Turkish truck at the Bab al-Salama border crossing. Damascus wants to impose a unified customs regime across the country Import duties being standardised 6km queues at borders Exporters need to be ‘patient’ Long delays at crossing points, increased bureaucracy and tariff hikes are stifling Turkey’s export flows to Syria, according to critics, as the new government in Damascus tries to unify customs rates at the country’s borders. On January 11 Damascus announced it was standardising duties on imports, with tariffs to be increased by 300 percent or more. This move was aimed at ending the practice of each border crossing – formerly controlled by the Assad regime or different rebel factions – charging their own levy. Turkish media have quoted numerous business leaders as saying Damascus’s new customs regulations are killing cross border trade and undercutting profit margins while also threatening to feed into inflation in Syria itself. Enforcing the new duties and the stepped-up customs checks that have come into force has resulted in long queues at crossing points of up to six kilometres, according to Turkish traders. More than 3,000 trucks may be lined up on Turkey’s side of the border at any given time. However, while Damascus is seeking to impose a unified customs regime across the country, the memo has not yet reached all those controlling the border posts. Six weeks after the Assad regime was ousted, exporters still report different duties and regulations being applied at the crossing points linking Turkey with Syria. While there are confusion and delays resulting from the new regulations, exporters should be patient, Fikret Kileci, coordinator chairman of Southeast Anatolian Exporters Associations, said in an interview with AGBI. “This will take time,” he said of Damascus’ efforts to re-establish order. “It isn’t the case that peace comes today and tomorrow there is order. “We have seven separate border crossings with Syria where each had different rules and different customs tariffs were applied. This will become regulated but it needs time.” Fall of Assad reopens Syria route to Gulf for Turkey’s truckers Turkish exporters cashing in on end of Syrian conflict A roadmap for a new Syria Though the new customs duties are in part the cause of the disruption to trade with Syria, Kileci also blames businesses unfamiliar with working in the region for adding to the problems on the border. He says newcomers are rushing to cash in on perceived opportunities in the war-torn country and are then becoming agitated when there are difficulties. “This is not Germany, the UK or the US, this is the Middle East, and it has its own unique rules,” he said. “These businesses should be patient.” “The issues will be resolved somehow. And the re-building of not only Syria but the whole Middle East, Turkey, and especially Turkey’s southeast Anatolian region, will come to the fore and many business areas will be opened up.” Turkey’s south-east will be a major hub for production and trade, connecting with not just Syria but Iraq and beyond as stability returns to the region, allowing for canny investors to take advantage, said Kileci. “But one should monitor, access and measure up the situation calmly.”