Cambodia factories “No” returns to us at all

Among the most important goals of the president Donald Trump And his management in hitting commercial partners with A severe tariff It restores the manufacturing capacity to the United States, even if it is at a price The market in the short term and economic coercion. But in Cambodia, the Asian state struck the highest tariff for any in the new trade plan, this goal is very unlikely.

While the 49 % tariff rate that the Trump administration places on the Cambodic goods will lead to an existential crisis of the Cambodian factories and workers already at the end of the low -income distribution, its manufacturing to the United States will not happen, according to a commercial group representing the interests of the United States in HUB to manufacture retail.

“They will not return to the United States at all,” said Casey Barnett, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, a trade association that represents American companies manufacturing companies in Cambodia. “I cannot imagine that the Americans want to sit and sew a pair of military pants for long hours of the day,” said Barnett.

Parnet said that Cambodia manufacturers are looking at other countries to alleviate the definitions, but the United States is not among the options. Some companies are looking to transfer supply chains to Egypt, sub -Saharan Africa, India and Indonesia. Other companies move more slowly, believing that there may be a reflection on the tariffs.

Cambodia factories are not in any way in a good position at the present time, according to Bernet, looking for ways to survive for the next few months.

He said: “Intensive clothing factories in employment here in Cambodia cannot continue working with an additional 49 % tariff. They cannot survive and search for alternatives.”

At the present time, at least, new orders are not set. “There are orders to be stopped,” Barnit added.

The Cambodian government is working on a number of steps to reduce pressure, such as financial policies, including tax credits.

Under Armor, Rawlings Sporting Goods, LululeMon, Black & Decker, Hugo Boss, Hearth & Home, Eddie Bauer, Dollar General, Diageo, ASICS, Adidas and Bass Pro are among the retail companies that are imported from Cambodia to North America, according to customs data from ImportGenius. There is a more permanent list of items imported from clothes to shoes, goods travel, bicycles, agricultural products, furniture, solar panels, tires and kitchen cabinets.

Expect a pause in making executive decisions

Andrew Queen Pararabanov, the practice in the supply chain industry in Moody’s, says that even if companies are manufactured as much as possible, the transfer of supply chains is a major investment, “says André Queen Pararabanov, the practice in the supply chain industry in Moody’s.

“The supply chain investments are supposed to be in the long run, and when you have a state of tremendous uncertainty, these decisions are unlikely to be taken. Companies will wait to find out what the tariff will respond from other countries, as well as restrictions available on American companies. You will have a little executive decisions.”

The White House claimed that the Cambodia tariff for the United States reaches 97 %, which is a disputed demand by the country, as well as through multiple sources of definition data, including the World Trade Organization. The Economic Summary Observatory, which also studies trade data, says some consumer products such as snacks, cosmetics and cars can see a tariff much higher than average, up to 35 %, in Cambodia. The average US tariff for Cambodic goods is 2.6 %.

The administration continued to say that the return of manufacturing to the United States will eventually lead to greater revenue for the United States “if we put an introductory wall, the ultimate goal is to restore jobs to the United States but in the meantime, we will collect a great tariff.” Treasury Secretary, Scott Beesen, said on Tuesday at CNBC. “If we succeed, the customs tariff will be a melting ice cube, in some way, because you take revenues as manufacturing facilities were built in the United States, and there must be a level of symmetry between the taxes that we start with the new industry from salary taxes with the decline in definitions.”

Andre C. Winters, founder and director of the Hudsonwinters Consulting and Planning Consulting Company, Recently tell CNBC It is doubtful that companies will return to the United States in a hurry. “This trade war is not an incentive to return to the United States,” Winters said. “Companies will look at other countries that are hit with lower definitions. If I pay 40 % in Vietnam and I can get a 20 % tariff in another country, I will go there, because in the end, it is still cheaper than returning to America.”

Parnet said that the American consumer will advance at least part of the bill, such as Many companies warned.

“Unfortunately, the prices of the American consumer will rise,” he said. “Cambodia was helping American families to buy those clothes that return to school at a reasonable price. These definitions will simply raise the prices of American families and do not return to the United States.”

Re -manufacturing to the United States It is not the only reason for Trump’s tariff planAccording to President Trump and his commercial advisers, while reducing the trade deficit and their debts, and the empowerment of tax cuts, which is very important to their strategy, and this has become evident with the start of nations to make introductory concessions.

Prime Minister Cambodia Send a message to the Trump administration In recent days, significant discounts in customs tariffs of American goods have been determined. Vietnam offered to take the definitions of US imports to 0 %, a offer noted by Trump, but the Trump administration later indicated will not be enough for the administration to raise its new fees.

Peter Navarro, the White House Trade Adviser on Monday in an interview with CNBC, said in rejecting the Vietnamese offer, that the trade deficit and “cheating in Nontarif” are important.

In comparison to the trade deficit, Cambodia ranks low in the list compared to many international industrialization countries. The total American commodity trade with Cambodia was estimated at $ 13 billion in 2024, According to the office of the American Trade Representative. American goods exports to Cambodia in 2024 amounted to 321.6 million dollars, an increase of 4.9 % (14.9 million dollars) from 2023. The total American goods imported from Cambodia reached 12.7 billion dollars in 2024, an increase of 9.3 % (1.1 billion dollars) from 2023.

The largest commercial deficit with us, by the nation

((In billions of dollars, starting from December 2024))

1. China (-295.4)
2. Mexico (-171.8)
3. Vietnam (-123.5)
4. Ireland (-86.7)
5. Germany (-84.8)
6. Taiwan (-73.9)
7. Japan (-68.5)
8. Korea, South (-66)
9. Canada (-63.3)
10. India (-45.7)

source: American census office

Trump advisers used the term “Exchange the burden” To discuss the broader philosophy behind the position of aggressive definitions and argue that other countries will bear the cost of definitions. Many economists have pointed to the associated risks It hit some of the poorest countries in the world With a high tariff. Cambodia is among the 11 countries that represent a small part of the American trade deficit but have exports to the United States, which represents more than 10 % of its gross domestic product, according to the World Development Center. “For people who work in the clothing industry, the conditions are harsh, but the wages of these jobs are a real opportunity, especially for women.”

The goods of more than one billion dollars from Cambodia, which the United States already imported from Cambodia this year increased on an annual basis amounted to 22.5 %, according to Gilberto Garcia Vazquism, the chief economist of the Datawheel research company. “This mutation confirms the dependence of Cambodia on deepening American consumers, who are now more than a third of the country’s exports,” he said. “The 49 % new definitions imposed by the Trump administration can erase $ 4.56 billion of Cambodian exports over the next four years, as clothes and goods are traveling to the largest strikes.”

For example, coherent statements can lose $ 548 million, according to Datawheel, which poses a great danger to the Cambodia clothing industry, workforce, and general economic stability.

Barnett repeated those concerns, saying that customs tariff rates will increase poverty in Cambodia, lead to loss of jobs, and increase trade deficit.

“There is little panic and this is tragic because there are a million of the poorest people who are currently working in this industry here in Cambodia, and many of them are women trying to meet their needs. Their monthly salary is about 300 dollars.” “Cambodia between a rock and a difficult place.”