They made America’s clothing. Now they are getting punished for it.

Millions of clothing workers actually live all over Asia, from my hands to mouth, fearing their jobs as a deadline to conclude a commercial deal with the United States – or facing punishment definitions – closer.

On July 9, after a 90 -day stopping the customs tariffs of the countries to negotiate, the US President informed many countries in the new drawing zone that will start on August 1. The new prices, although they are less than the proposed rates in April, did little anxiety to calm down.

Among the countries that received the letters of Donald Trump, clothing centers like Cambodia and Sri Lanka, which depended greatly on the United States as a export market. The messages said that the two countries will face a tariff of 36 % and 30 %, respectively.

Nike, Levi’s and LululeMon are among the American brands with large names that contain the largest part of their clothes in these countries.

“Can you imagine what will happen if? [we] Check our jobs? I am very worried, especially for my children. “They need food.

Mrs. Suclin and her husband Cook Tuk make livestock bags for 10 hours a day. Together, they earn about $ 570 a month – barely enough to cover the rent and provide their young and elderly fathers.

“[I want to] Send a message to President Trump, to tell him to raise the tariff on Cambodia … We need our jobs to support our families, “she said to the BBC.

Cambodia, which has become a famous alternative to Chinese retailers due to its ready -made supply of low wage employment, was exported by more than $ 3 billion of clothes to the United States last year, according to the ASEAN Statistics Department. The sector, which employs more than 900,000 people, is more than the country’s total exports.

For Sri Lanka, exports to the United States helped the clothing industry-which directly employs about 350,000 people-to earn $ 1.9 billion last year, making it the third largest export of a foreign exchange in the country.

“if [30%] Johann Lawrence, Secretary -General of the Joint Clothes Forum in Sri Lanka, told Reuters that the final number, Lanka is in trouble because our competitors, like Vietnam, received a lower tariff. “

The Sri Lankan authorities hope to negotiate an additional reduction in definitions, but they have not revealed what they are considered an acceptable rate.

Some of its leaders noticed that the country had obtained the highest concession – from 14 percentage points – to the extent of previous negotiations. “This is the beginning of a very good situation,” said Finance Minister Harshana Suriapubiroma last week.

Cambodia, which has a percentage percentage, is also seeking to hold more conversations. “We are doing our best to protect the interests of investors and workers,” said Deputy Prime Minister Sun Changul, who leads the negotiating team.

“We want the tariff to be zero … but we respect their decision and we will continue to try to negotiate a lower rate,” he said.

Trump says that customs duties are necessary to reduce the gap between the value of the goods that the United States buys from other countries and those they sell to them.

“Our relationship was, unfortunately, far from reciprocity,” the American leader wrote in letters to various countries last week.

But analysts do not agree.

Mark Annar, dean of the College of Management and Labor Relations, says that Trump’s tariff overlooks the benefits of the United States from current commercial agreements, including low -price clothes and higher profits of American companies determined by countries such as Sri Lanka or Cambodia.

For decades, the United States, the European Union and Canada had a shares system that maintains a specific share of their markets for developing countries such as Sri Lanka. The regime, which was disposed of in 2005, helped Sri Lanka’s clothing sector to prosper despite intense competition.

Professor Annar said: “In order for the United States now that the United States now imposes the exorbitant definitions that effectively closed these countries outside the market, contradicts the same path of development, which was described once,” said Professor Annar.

Shing Lu, a professor in the Department of Fashion and Clothes at Dilayer University, says it is unrealistic to expect small developing economies not to manage a trade deficit with the United States.

“How many Boeing aircraft do you need Cambodia or Sri Lanka and can buy every year?” He asked.

Professor if the strategic competition between the United States and China is also working in commercial conversations, given how these countries that export clothing into supply chains that rely heavily on Chinese inputs are combined.

They now have to “achieve an accurate balance” between maintaining economic relations with China while meeting new American demands, which may include cutting the use of Chinese inputs in production.

Washington’s tariff adds new pressure to familiar challenges in this industry: poverty and weak work rights in Cambodia, and a continuous economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

Women, who make up seven out of every 10 clothing workers in the area, are to bear the definitions. More down pressure on their chronic low wages means that their children may suffer from hunger, while potential layoffs will be more destructive.

Surngi Sandia, who works in a factory in the town of Nawalibetia Sri Lankan, says she feels a ax suspended.

“Companies do not work confused … if the requests decrease, if there is a loss, there may be a possibility that the company will be closed,” she says. Mrs. Sandia started as a seam of rank and files in 2011, then worked on her way to become the supervisor of the 70 Women team.

If the payment comes to payment, some Cambodian workers say they will consider moving to Thailand to find jobs – even if they should do so illegally.

“Our livelihoods depend on the clothing factory. We will not remain alive if our president closes it,” Sopheak BBC told her small 16 -square -meter room in the Philom Penh capital in Cambodia.

“We have a little education. We cannot find other jobs. Every day, we will raise President Trump the tariff. Please think about us and our poor country.”