Trade Ministry

Five cities accounted for 56.3 percent of Türkiye's overall exports in May, according to data from the Trade Ministry.

Exports by companies based in Istanbul, the country's financial and commercial center, increased by 14 percent year-on-year last month to $5.64 billion, which corresponded to 23.4 percent of Türkiye's export revenues.

Türkiye has imposed an additional 40 percent tariff on all Chinese-made vehicles in a bid to narrow the current account deficit and protect domestic automakers.

The custom duties will apply to Chinese-made internal combustion engines and hybrid cars, the Trade Ministry has said.

Turkish authorities have eased restrictions on the export of olive oil, amid expectations that production will pick up this season, removing an outright ban that was introduced in August last year.

Türkiye's exports increased by 11.4 percent in May from a year earlier to $24.07 billion, according to data from the Trade Ministry.

Imports plunged more than 10 percent annually to $30.6 billion, leading to a foreign trade deficit of $6.5 billion, down 47.8 percent from May last year.

This marked a record high May figure, said Trade Minister Ömer Bolat.

Authorities have foiled smuggling attempts worth more than 1 billion Turkish Liras in several cities, including Istanbul, seizing counterfeit currency and leading to several arrests.

The Turkish parliament has passed a law that introduces harsher fines for stockpiling and exorbitant prices.

Producers, suppliers and retail businesses that violate the provision in the law on the exorbitant increase in the sales price of goods or services will be imposed administrative fines between 100,000 to 1 million Turkish Liras for each violation.

Türkiye and Kuwait have inked six agreements spanning various sectors including investment, defense and disaster management in a bid to bolster bilateral relations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared that Türkiye will use all available means to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.

"We will use all our means to hold those who claimed the lives of 35,000 of our brothers accountable before the law," Erdoğan said during an event in the capital Ankara on May 6.

Companies that were found to have engaged in exorbitant price increases and stockpiling were slapped with a total administrative fine of 355.8 million Turkish Liras ($11 million) last year, the Trade Ministry has announced.

Türkiye's foreign trade deficit came in at $9.9 billion in April, pointing to a 13.3 percent increase from a year ago, preliminary numbers of the Trade Ministry showed on May 3.

The foreign trade gap shrank more than 12 percent year-on-year in March to $7.3 billion.