Cambodia hit with highest Trump tariff, but manufacturing ‘absolutely not’ coming back to U.S., trade group says
Among the top goals for President Trump and his administration in hitting trading partners with steep tariffs is bringing manufacturing capacity back to the U.S., even if it comes at the price of short-term market and economic duress.
Among the top goals for President Trump and his administration in hitting trading partners with steep tariffs is bringing manufacturing capacity back to the U.S., even if it comes at the price of short-term market and economic duress. But in Cambodia, the Asian country hit with the highest tariff rate of any in the new trade plan, that goal is highly unlikely.
While the 49% tariff rate that the Trump administration is placing on Cambodian goods will lead to an existential crisis for Cambodian factories and workers already at the low-end of global income distribution, reshoring of its manufacturing to the U.S. is not going to happen, according to a trade group that represents U.S. interests in the retail manufacturing hub.
“They’re absolutely not going to go back to the United States,” said Casey Barnett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, the trade association representing U.S. companies manufacturing in Cambodia. “I can’t imagine that Americans want to sit down and sew a pair of sweatpants for long hours of the day,” Barnett said.
Barnett said manufacturers in Cambodia are looking at other countries to mitigate the tariffs, but the U.S. is not among the options. Some companies are looking to move their supply chains to Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Indonesia. Other companies are moving more slowly, thinking there might be a reversal on the tariffs.
Employees work at a textile and garment factory in Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia, in 2024. Yang Qiang / China News Service via Getty Images fileFactories in Cambodia are by no means in a good position for the moment, according to Barnett, looking for ways to survive for the next few months.
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