Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%," Trump said in a tweet.Earlier this week U.S. and Turkish officials met in Washington to discuss issues that have pitted the two NATO allies against each other.Despite Trump's insistence, Turkey has not budged in freeing American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been detained by Turkey for almost two years on charges that he was working with a terrorist organization and was a spy. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum from Turkey amid heightened tensions between the two nations.Trump made his unexpected announcement on Twitter from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, as the Turkish currency, the lira, fell to all-time lows against the U.S. This is a domestic and national struggle.”

He appeared to blame foreigners for trying to hurt Turkey, saying: “This will be my people’s response against those waging an economic war against us.”

Mr Erdogan reportedly said his government “will not lose the economic war”. Trump's tweet and the White House comment came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked citizens to convert their dollars and other foreign currencies as well as gold holdings to lira. The two sides seemed to have failed to resolve the deadlock though bilateral talks in Washington earlier this week during the visit of a Turkish delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal and made up of officials from Turkey’s justice, finance and foreign ministries.
U.S. President Donald Trump authorizes the doubling of Section 232 tariffs on imports of aluminium and steel from Turkey, to 20% and 50% respectively. The Turkish lira further falls to a new record low against the U.S. dollar and Turkish stocks tumble.