US lifts arms embargo on Cambodia after ceasefire deal

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A Cambodian military service member stands on a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, 2025. (Soveit Yarn/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  -  The United States on Thursday lifted an embargo on defense trade with Cambodia, after President Donald Trump oversaw the signing of a ceasefire deal between Cambodia and neighboring Thailand last week.

The administration of Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, imposed the ban on arms exports to the Southeast Asian nation in 2021, citing the growing influence of China's military in the country, as well as human rights and alleged corruption.

After Trump was credited with bringing Thailand and Cambodia to the negotiating table to settle fighting on their shared border that broke out in July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio lifted the restrictions, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

"Based on Cambodia’s diligent pursuit of peace and security, including through renewed engagement with the United States on defense cooperation and combating transnational crime, the Secretary of State made a determination to lift the embargo on defense trade with Cambodia," the notice said.

Arms sales to Cambodia would now be authorized on a case-by-case basis and subject to relevant criteria, the notice said.

It was unclear whether U.S. concerns over Chinese military influence in Cambodia have been addressed. U.S. officials have for years raised concerns about China's expansion of the Ream Naval Base, which could give China an outpost near the contested waters of the South China Sea.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The determination comes after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said after meeting Cambodia's Minister of National Defense Tea Seiha in Malaysia on Friday that he had "agreed to restart our premier bilateral military exercise with Cambodia."

Trump earlier in the week was present at the signing of an enhanced ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia in Malaysia that built on an earlier ceasefire. That deal came after a Trump phone call broke the deadlock in efforts to end the heaviest fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in over a decade that killed dozens of soldiers and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said during the signing ceremony that he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the fighting.

 (Reporting by Simon Lewis and Maiya Keidan; editing by Philippa Fletcher // REUTERS)