Under the pandemic, the international trade environment is now more unstable. In a volatile market, many countries have even built trade barriers to protect the development of their domestic industrial economies. This is understandable. But there are also countries that have chosen to accept the changing situation with a more open stance. The good news is some stainless steel products will be of 0% tariff importing from China to Cambodia thanks to the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement. The zero-tariff stainless steel products is such an encouraging measurement to the both countries.
 

China- Cambodia Free Trade Agreement to Take Effect on January 1, 2022

BEIJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The free trade agreement (FTA) signed between China and Cambodia will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).
The agreement, which was officially signed on Oct. 12, 2020, brings the proportion of zero-tariff products in the goods trade between China and the southeast Asian nation to more than 90 percent for both countries, the ministry said.



In the document, the two countries agreed to open up to each other as much as possible in the service trade sector.

Meanwhile, the two sides also agreed to deepen cooperation in investment, the Belt and Road Initiative, e-commerce, and economic and technical sectors, according to the MOC.

The FTA is a new milestone in the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, and will help enhance the well-being of enterprises and people of both countries, the MOC said.
Cambodia mainly imports machinery and construction materials from China, and exports agricultural products, according to Heng.

Early last month in China, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi pledged to work together to speed up internal procedures for the ratification of the CCFTA, to promote trade, investment and tourism between the two countries for the benefit of the peoples, and build a common destiny.

The Cambodian commerce minister previously noted that the agreement would prop up the Cambodia’s agricultural exports to the Chinese market, despite the Kingdom’s vast trade deficit and China’s expansive agricultural portfolio.

Sorasak added that the Kingdom expects the FTA to lift Cambodian exports to China by about 25 per cent.

The Cambodian commerce ministry previously claimed that the CCFTA would provide the Kingdom duty-free access to over 300 items.

China would accord duty-free status to 95 percent of agricultural imports from Cambodia, it said.

Cambodia and China plan to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2023.

However, largely due to Covid-19, bilateral trade between Cambodia and China fell 5.2 per cent last year over 2019, to $8.11807 billion, according to the Cambodian commerce ministry. Of that, the Kingdom’s exports were to the tune of $1.08626 billion, up by 8.11 per cent, as imports reached $7.03181 billion, down by 6.97 per cent.

Some relevant stainless steel products:

Reference of HS Code: