China Won't Rescue Cambodia From Trump's Tariffs

2025-04-16 02:01:04

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Cambodia's first-quarter trade and investment data dropped in recent days, putting its US and China relations in statistical relief after Donald Trump imposed new 49% tariffs on the country.

According to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), in Q1 2025, China accounted for 49.1% of imports worth US$3.7 billion, up almost 31% from the same period last year.

Vietnam came in second place at 14.2%, followed by Thailand at 11.8%. All other countries were in the low single digits-the US, in 11th place, accounted for just 1% of Cambodia's imports, valued at $78 million, which nonetheless was up 31%.

The US accounted for 35% of Cambodia's exports (worth $2.4 billion, up 22% from the same period last year). Vietnam was second at 18.4%, although this figure was down almost a tenth. The other countries were in single digits. China, in third place, bought just 5% of Cambodia's exports.

Knitted apparel accounted for 21% of exports and unknitted apparel for 14%. If all of the garment, footwear and travel goods are lumped together, they accounted for around 55% of all exports.

After this sector, agriculture was the second most important. Cereals accounted for 9%, edible fruits and nuts accounted for 6%, and vegetables for 4%.

As for Cambodia's imports, oil and gas were by far the single largest import good, costing $961 million, or almost 13% of all imports. After that were the materials for the garment industry.

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