US Targets Cambodia over Forced Labor Import Rules

PHNOM PENH – The US has proposed additional duties on 60 countries, including Cambodia, which export goods made by forced labor or which do not take strong enough measures to ban their import.

Cambodia is among the latter group.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) initiated the investigation for fear of unfair competition for Americans.

USTR issued a report named “Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure to Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor” on June 2, in which it investigated 60 countries exporting goods to the US.

In ASEAN, Cambodia joins Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam on the list of named countries.

The report says Cambodia is one of 54 countries which have failed to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labour or to effectively enforce such a prohibition.

USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said it is unacceptable that key trading partners have failed to combat the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

This situation results in American workers facing an uneven competitive landscape globally.

“We will no longer tolerate this disparity,” he said. “Each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally.” 

An additional 10 percent duty is proposed for the countries with a partial regime preventing importation of certain forced labor goods, while 10 percent will be added to the other countries.

It also proposes a textile mechanism to permit a specific volume of apparel and textile imports from select economies into the US.

A hearing about the proposed action will be held on July 7, while written comments are due by July 6.

Sun Mesa, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, said Cambodia doesn’t have issues with forced labor, declining to comment further and referring the reporter to the Ministry of Commerce.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce Pen Sovicheat couldn’t be reached for comment at the time of publication.

The United States imposes a 19 percent tariff on most imports from Cambodia. This tariff consists of the reciprocal base tax and most-favored-nation (MFN) duties and may vary by product according to the United States-Cambodia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.