The United States has fined several companies for exporting goods via a Chinese-owned special economic zone in Cambodia in a bid to dodge President Donald Trump ’s tariffs on Chinese imports, a US embassy official said on Wednesday. “The Department of Homeland Security has inspected and fined a number of companies for evading tariffs in the United States by routing goods through Cambodia ,” US embassy spokesman Arend Zwartjes said in an emailed statement. “These companies are located in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone,” said Zwartjes, who did not name or say how many companies had been fined for avoiding the tariffs, how large the fines were, or what goods the companies had been exporting. Earlier this month, Vietnam ’s customs department said it had also found scores of cases of exporters illegally re-labelling Chinese goods as “Made in Vietnam” to avoid tariffs imposed as a result of the ongoing US-China trade war . Too little, too late for the US around the Mekong? China’s already there Zwartjes referred further questions to the US Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of office hours. Cambodia’s customs department and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China is Cambodia’s biggest aid donor and investor, pouring in billions of dollars in development assistance and loans through the Belt and Road Initiative , which aims to bolster land and sea links with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), 210km west of the capital, Phnom Penh, is a Chinese and Cambodian joint venture in the belt and road initiative which produces textiles, garments, bags and leather products, according to its website. The zone did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Chinese investment in Cambodia is bringing Phnom Penh closer to Beijing Under a trade agreement that was expanded in 2016, the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) allows Cambodia to export travel goods such as bags, luggage and accessories, to the US duty free. Kaing Monika, Deputy Secretary General of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), which represents 600 garment factories in Cambodia, said he was unaware of the transshipments. The US$7-billion apparel industry is the largest formal employer in the Southeast Asian country. Cambodia’s economy grew 7.5 per cent last year, a four-year high, compared with 7 per cent in 2017, helped by rising exports to the US, said the World Bank in April. Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook