US, Cambodian Officials Meet Under TIFA

U.S. and Cambodian officials met Aug. 8 under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to discuss ways to expand trade and investment, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Aug. 9. Trump administration officials updated Cambodia on U.S. trade priorities related to enforcement, lowering the trade deficit and opening new markets, USTR said. The U.S. had a $2.5 billion trade in goods deficit with Cambodia in 2016, and two-way trade totaled $3.2 billion. The U.S. and Cambodia “agreed to work together to address outstanding bilateral trade issues,” including on labor, intellectual property protection, and financial services, USTR said. The two nations agreed to establish working groups on labor, IP, digital and services trade, and trade facilitation, USTR said. They also discussed sanitary/phytosanitary standards and reviewed Cambodia’s implementation of the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement and its participation in the WTO Information Technology Agreement.