Cambodia's garment and footwear exports increased 24 per cent in 2018. One of the reasons is better performance of the global economy. The EU bought 46 per cent of Cambodia’s total garment and footwear exports last year, the US 24 per cent, Canada nine per cent and Japan eight per cent.

Travel goods exports, which Cambodia obtained with duty-free export status from the US since July 2016, accelerated remarkably and could be a major factor in last year’s sped up growth in garment and footwear exports.

The value of apparel exports last year accounted for 74 per cent of Cambodia’s total exports. The sector employs about 8,00,000 workers. The Cambodian garment sector benefits from ‘EU’s Everything But Arms’ trade preferential treatment, but this may be removed this year. The EU is about to impose trade sanctions against Cambodia as a result of alleged human rights violations in the country. That means Cambodia won’t be allowed to export goods duty-free and quota-free to the EU.

Sanctions will damage Cambodia’s economy, where a $5billion garment industry employs 7,50,000 people and is the biggest exporter. In addition the EU is mulling imposing tariffs on Cambodian rice for three years as a result of a surge in imports deemed to have hurt European rice producers.