US President Donald Trump shows no intention of stepping back from his steep steel tariffs; on the contrary, he is forging ahead to expand them. Turkey, which was hit by Trump’s tariff blow in March, has geared up to respond in kind, contemplating levies on various US products. Yet a fresh challenge has emerged under its nose: Regional steel producers are targeting Turkey’s own market.

According to the Turkish Steel Producers Association, a 9.7% decrease in Turkish steel exports in March is the first sign of the impact of Trump’s 25% tariff and “corresponding protectionist measures arising in other countries.”

Turkey’s efforts to win an exception have failed to bear fruit thus far, prompting Ankara to outline retaliatory measures. According to Hurriyet, Ankara estimates that Washington’s new levies on steel and aluminum have added a $266.5 million tax burden on Turkish exporters. Turkey plans to reciprocate with tariffs on various imports from the United States, including cars, cosmetics, whiskey, walnuts, tobacco, coal, paper, machinery and petrochemical products.

Ankara has sought a solution through diplomacy to avoid an “economic war” on top of simmering political tensions with Washington, which have already strained ties, especially in Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek have all raised the issue in talks with US counterparts, but to no avail. “Our president brought up the issue several times in telephone conversations with Mr. Trump. This [state of affairs] is not what we desire in our ties with the United States,” Zeybekci said May 20. The minister stressed that the steel and iron trade between the two countries was already in the United States’ favor, with Turkey’s exports amounting to $1.18 billion against more than $1.3 billion worth of imports.