Cambodia's garment workers fear EU trade threat but producers optimistic

Garment workers stand on the back of a truck as they travel to work, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A European Union decision to ramp up trade pressure on Cambodia has alarmed unions in its garment industry, a pillar of the economy that employs about 700,000 people, but a key grouping of manufacturers said the risk would take months to materialise.

Cambodia's biggest export market, the EU, warned this month that the Southeast Asian nation would lose special access to the world's largest trading bloc, in a punitive response to its move away from democracy.