US says China is still failing to crack down on copyright infringement and IP piracy

Washington’s annual Notorious Markets List again accuses major Chinese platforms, including units owned by Alibaba Group, of failing to curb trade of counterfeit goods

Updated list comes as economic ties between the superpowers remain strained, and as Washington has ramped up its tech-containment efforts targeting China

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The US says China continues to be the No 1 source of counterfeit products in the world. Photo: AP

Published: 12:00am, 1 Feb 2023Updated: 9:12am, 1 Feb 2023

The US says China has failed to address the rampant trade of counterfeit goods, in Washington’s latest review of “notorious markets” that comes amid heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Like it did last year, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has designated six large Chinese online platforms as “notorious” sellers of counterfeit goods that violate US trademarks and copyright law, and said such piracy remains detrimental to American workers. It also added three new physical markets in China to the list, which identifies a total of 18 countries.

“This year’s NML includes several previously identified markets because owners, operators and governments failed to address the stated concerns,” the report said, referring to the Notorious Markets List that flags prominent foreign violators.

Protecting intellectual property is a high priority for the American government, as 41 per cent of the country’s total gross domestic product, or about US$7.8 trillion, came from IP-intensive industries in 2019, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. IP-intensive industries also supported 44 per cent of the American workforce, or 63 million jobs, that year.

The widespread trade in counterfeit and pirated goods harms the economic security of American workers

Katherine Tai, USTR

Property rights protection has long been a thorny point of contention in economic relations between China and the US, and it was one of former president Donald Trump’s stated reasons for instigating the trade war with China that has continued under the presidency of Joe Biden.