Cambodia plans to nominate President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize to recognize his help in reaching a cease-fire deal to end its recent border clashes with Thailand, the country’s deputy prime minister said.
Sun Chanthol, in an interview on Thursday, said without the U.S. president’s intervention, Cambodia and Thailand would likely not have forged a deal to end the fighting that killed at least 45 people on both sides of the disputed border.
Trump last weekend set an end to the clashes as a condition for lowering high “reciprocal tariffs” he had threatened to impose on both nations. On Monday, the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a truce during a meeting in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The cease-fire has mostly held despite some minor reported skirmishes.
“He should get the Nobel, not only for his work on Cambodia, but also elsewhere,” Sun Chanthol said. He added that the Cambodian government plans to put the president’s name forward with the Norwegian Nobel Committee that bestows the prize.
Late Thursday, the Trump administration announced that Cambodia, like Thailand, would face 19% tariffs on imports to the U.S., a sharp reduction from 36% rate it faced previously. That rate had already been lowered from a 49% tariff—one of the highest worldwide—the president had initially announced for Cambodia in April.
Supporting Trump’s aspirations to follow President Obama in receiving the Nobel Peace Prize has become one way for countries to curry favor with the president, even as he has so far failed to resolve larger conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. Israel and Pakistan have said that they have already submitted Trump’s name to the Norwegian committee and several African nations have also expressed their backing.
Sun Chanthol said his government was still working on a fully fledged trade deal with the U.S. and that the 19% tariffs were part of a looser framework that still needs to be fleshed out. To get there, Cambodia has already agreed to drop all its previous tariffs on imports from the U.S., including on cars, a concession that will cost the government some $60 million in revenue.
It will also buy 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets for its national carrier, Air Cambodia, with an option to buy 10 more, Sun Chanthol said.
As trade talks with the U.S. continue, Cambodia is hoping for some carve-outs from the 19% tariff, including for its important garment industry, which Sun Chanthol noted, mostly employs women.
Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at Gabriele.Steinhauser@wsj.com
