Turkey’s apparel manufacturing industry will soon be closed for good, the government said Thursday, with a warning that the industry is too dangerous to be allowed to continue.
The closure of nearly 400 clothing manufacturing companies is expected to take place in 2019, with only about 10 percent of the companies expected to remain open, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The government has been targeting the garment sector since last summer, when it seized factories that were exporting garments from other countries.
Turkey is the world’s third-largest importer of garments after China and the United States.
Last year, the European Union announced it was banning imports of Turkish clothing.
The European Commission said at the time that it would not impose tariffs on Turkey.
The EU and the U.S. have since joined together in an effort to combat the global supply chain.