PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Manet on April 7 defended his government’s seemingly muted response to the United States’ recent tariff hike on Cambodian exports, insisting that behind-the-scenes efforts were well underway despite the lack of public announcements.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new flyover in Phnom Penh, the prime minister said the government’s Committee for Economic and Financial Policies had analyzed several scenarios related to potential U.S. tariff changes as early as two months ago.

“We had already developed various scenarios and were simply waiting for the U.S. decision in order to respond accordingly,” he said, adding that relevant ministries and institutions were capable of leading the response without direct involvement from him.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 49 percent tariff increase on Cambodian goods on April 3 (Cambodia time). Cambodia issued an official response 41 hours later, with Hun Manet sending a letter to President Trump requesting a delay in the implementation of the new tariffs and proposing negotiations.

In the letter, Hun Manet offered an immediate reduction in tariffs on 19 categories of U.S. products, lowering them from 35 percent to 5 percent as a gesture of goodwill.

Acknowledging that other world leaders had issued swift public statements, Hun Manet said Cambodia had taken similar actions, albeit without broadcasting them on social media.

His comments came in response to criticism from exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who accused the Cambodian government of being slow and ineffective in addressing the U.S. move. Hun Manet maintained that his administration had taken a proactive approach to the situation.

Addressing confusion over trade figures, Hun Manet clarified that the often-cited 97 percent figure was not a tariff imposed by Cambodia on U.S. imports, but rather a representation of the trade deficit.

Since Cambodia joined the World Trade Organization in 2004, he said, the maximum tariff rate has remained under 35 percent, with the current average tariff standing at 29.4 percent.

“Cambodia is not strangling the U.S. by imposing 97 percent tariffs, as some have claimed,” he said.

The prime minister also emphasized that negotiations could not begin without a clear understanding of the issues and that the government could not reveal its strategy prematurely.

“After President Trump announced the tariff hike, we convened meetings with the private sector to review our response scenarios,” he said. “Just because I didn’t post about it on Facebook doesn’t mean I wasn’t working on it.”

Hun Manet added that the government had even prepared a second-phase strategy in anticipation of the U.S. administration’s response to its proposal.

Meanwhile, Asian financial markets suffered sharp losses in early trading on April 7 as a fresh wave of selloffs swept through the region, driven by growing fears of a deepening global economic slump triggered by President Trump’s sweeping new import tariffs.

Market volatility surged throughout the day. Japan’s benchmark index sank more than 8 percent, South Korea’s market dropped by approximately 5 percent, and Australian stocks slid over 6 percent amid the uncertainty.