Turkey’s trade minister on Friday implored U.S. President Donald Trump to return to the negotiating table on tariffs, hours after Trump imposed higher tariffs on imports from Turkey, including a 20 percent duty on aluminum and a 50 percent duty on steel.

The minister, Ruhsar Pekcan, said the trade rift between the NATO allies can and should be resolved through dialogue, according to Reuters.

“Repeated efforts to communicate to the U.S. administration that none of the stated criteria driving America’s tariffs are applicable to Turkey have thus far proven fruitless,” said Pekcan in a statement.

“Nevertheless, we implore President Trump to return to the negotiating table – this can and should be resolved through dialogue and cooperation,” he added.

Relations between the two countries have soured over a series of issues, but most recently over the trial of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson on terrorism charges.

Brunson, who has been detained in the country for more than year, is accused of working with Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims orchestrated a failed coup in 2016.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has vowed to "retaliate" against the U.S. sanctions, calling the American move a "hostile stance".

Earlier this week, however, it was reported that a delegation of Turkish officials will head to Washington to discuss the row between the two countries.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)