Bilateral trade between Cambodia and the US in the first eight months of 2021 totalled $5.4994 billion, surging by 28.47 per cent versus $4.2805 billion in the same period of last year, according to the US Census Bureau (USCB).

Cambodia-US trade has avoided dipping into negative territory, even as SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, continues its global path, disrupting a fair share of production chains.

In January-August, Cambodian exports to the US amounted to $5.2206 billion, a 27.88 per cent year-on-year uptick, and imports were worth $278.8 million, climbing by 40.59 per cent, the USCB reported. The Kingdom’s trade surplus with the US widened by 27.2 per cent from $3.884 billion to $4.942 billion.

In August alone, the Kingdom’s exports to the US were valued at $922.1 million, up by 33 per cent year-on-year from over $692.5 million, and imports clocked in at $43.0 million, up by over 52 per cent from $28.2 million in August 2020.

Hong Vanak, director of Ianternational Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on October 9 that the positive trade performance between the two countries was due to a number of key ingredients, such as improvements in diplomatic ties and shifts in production conducive to meeting the needs of the US market.

He also attributed the solid trade growth momentum to “trouble” in countries that export to the US market, mainly a reference to Myanmar.

“As the US has always wanted good relations with ASEAN countries, I remain optimistic that Cambodia’s export market will be even larger in the future,” Vanak said.

Bilateral trade between the Kingdom and the US amounted to $6.9213 billion in 2020, up 17.89 per cent from 2019, data from the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (AmCham) show.

The export value of Cambodian goods was $6.5777 billion, up 22.79 per cent from the $5.3568 billion posted in 2019, while goods imported from the US were worth $343.6 million, down 33.15 per cent from $514 million.