TEHRAN - Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammadreza Ne’matzadeh says the ministry’s strategy is to ban imports of consumer goods from the U.S.

The ministry’s strategy is to promote domestic production and to curb imports of foreign goods, especially from the U.S., the Tasnim News Agency quoted Ne’matzadeh as saying on Saturday.

“We always encourage people to consume domestically-made products”, the minister noted.

He stressed the need to take advantage of domestic production capacity, saying that the culture of using foreign-made goods should be changed.

This will lead to the creation of jobs and income for the youth, the minister added.

The U.S. exported over $140.5 million worth of products to Iran during the first half of 2015, a 60 percent rise from $88 million in the same period of time in 2014, according to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department.   

The U.S. had no imports from Iran during January-June 2015.

The Iran-U.S. trade totaled $182.1 million in 2014, with one hundred percent of the sum related to U.S. exports to Iran.  

The value of trade between Iran and the U.S. dropped 42 percent in 2014 from 2013.  

MA/