In June 2025, Morocco was reported to be preparing to renegotiate its free trade agreement with Turkey, seeking more Turkish investment to offset a widening trade imbalance. The move came amid concerns over the impact of Turkish textile imports on Morocco’s domestic manufacturing sector.
According to Omar Hjira, Minister Delegate in charge of Foreign Trade, Morocco’s trade deficit with Turkey has grown to around $3 billion, its third-largest after those with the United States and China, both of which are major investors in Morocco. Most of the gap comes from imports of Turkish fabric, which Moroccan garment makers rely on heavily.
In June 2025, Reuters reported that Hjira was planning an official visit to Turkey to address the deficit directly with Turkish authorities and push for increased Turkish investments in Morocco’s industrial sectors.
This is not the first time the two countries have revisited their trade ties. Morocco had already raised import duties on Turkish textiles in 2020, and the same year both sides signed an amendment to the free trade agreement. In force since April 2022, it lets Morocco charge duties at 90% of its standard rate on more than 1,200 Turkish products, most of them textiles and clothing.
The talks proposed in June 2025 reflect Morocco’s broader effort to rebalance its trade relationships, protect domestic industry and attract foreign capital into key sectors. For a fuller picture of how this trade tension is affecting Morocco’s EU-bound textile exports, see Kohan Textile Journal’s coverage of Morocco’s textile export performance amid EU-Turkey trade tensions.
For more on Morocco’s trade agreements, Turkiye relations and market access, see Kohan Textile Journal’s Morocco Textile Trade Hub.
