MGR Online — Cambodia has expressed its satisfaction with the United States' decision to impose a 10% import tariff under Section 301 concerning goods produced with forced labour. Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol stated that Cambodia has received the lowest tariff rate among the countries affected, and expects that an additional tariff on the separate issue of excess production capacity — currently under consideration — will bring the overall rate to approximately 19% or lower.
On 23 July, U.S. President Donald Trump directed the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to impose new tariffs under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 on imports from 60 countries, as Washington determined that those countries had failed to effectively prohibit and enforce bans on goods manufactured using forced labour.
Cambodia noted that under these measures, it has been assigned a tariff rate of 10%, while neighbouring countries Thailand and Vietnam have been hit with a higher rate of 12.5%.
Sun Chanthol, who also serves as First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), told Bloomberg News that Cambodia is pleased with the outcome while awaiting Washington's decision on the separate excess capacity issue.
"We are very pleased with the rate we received regarding Section 301 on forced labour. The rates ranged between 10% and 12.5%, but Cambodia received 10%," Sun Chanthol said.
He said Cambodia is still waiting for Washington's decision on the excess capacity tariff, and that Cambodia expects it will not exceed 9%.
The Deputy Prime Minister further said that the combined tariff rate for both the forced labour and excess capacity issues should be approximately 19% or lower, in line with the reciprocal trade agreement that Cambodia and the United States signed last year.
"The two components — forced labour and excess capacity — combined come to approximately 19%, or less than 19%, as we agreed upon in the reciprocal trade agreement with the United States," Sun Chanthol said.
He said Cambodia became the first country to sign a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States on 26 October 2025, followed by the signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, witnessed by President Trump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sun Chanthol also expressed confidence that the tariff on excess capacity would remain below 9%, anticipating that the United States would honour its agreement with Cambodia.
"I expect it will not exceed 9%, because the United States will respect the agreement," Sun Chanthol stated.
He added that the final rate would likely be close to 9%, as the United States wants Cambodia to remain within the same tariff range as its manufacturing competitors in ASEAN, and that Cambodia has made a number of commitments under the bilateral trade agreement, including eliminating tariffs on U.S. imports, promoting the enforcement of environmental laws, and reducing non-tariff barriers to facilitate trade.
