A senior official from Cambodian commerce ministry has urged US Government to not rush in imposing trade sanctions and look first at the happy faces of garment workers.
Notably, the country had exported apparels and textiles worth US $ 400 million to USA duty-free in 2018.
Earlier this week, Alan Lowenthal and Steve Chabot, two US congressmen filed a bill that proposes the US Government to remove Cambodia from Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a preferential trade scheme over human rights accord.
“It is just a request that they come and look at every corner of the country. They should come and see what’s going on with Cambodians.” – Seang Thay, Spokesman, Commerce Ministry, Cambodia
He further added that the economic impact of removing Cambodia from GSP would be disastrous.
Moeun Tola, Executive Director, Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, said that GSP was highly relevant for Cambodian economy and so was EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.
EBA is also currently under review.
