US producers wishing to benefit from the additional customs tariffs applied to some Russian agricultural products by Turkey are in search for increasing their rice exports.

US rice producers are in search for increasing their export activities to Turkey after the government stops purchasing agricultural products from Russia. According to Milliyet Daily Newspaper, Turkey started to apply high customs duties on some Russian agriculture products and suspended the purchase of these products. Ankara denied the allegations of import restrictions, while Moscow said the practice prevented bilateral rapprochement. U.S. Rice Producers Association Representative Greg Yielding stated that he saw the crisis between Turkey and Russia as an opportunity during the visit to Egypt by the US Department of Agriculture and added “Some Russian rice was going to Turkey and now there are problems, so we see this as an opportunity to make more sales to Turkey.”

According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture, Turkey imported 71,700 tons of rice from the US and 67,000 400 tons of rice from Russia in 2015-16.