Days ahead of next round of talks, US slams China for ‘failure’ on intellectual property reform
- Report from US trade representative’s office says China continues to engage in ‘unfair and harmful conduct’ that damages US intellectual property rights
- China is to remain on Washington’s ‘priority watch list’ for IP protection infringement, according to report
China continues to engage in “unfair and harmful conduct” that damages US intellectual property rights, despite some limited areas of IP protection reform, the US government announced on Thursday.
The Asian country, with which the US is engaged in a months-long, multibillion-dollar trade war, will remain on Washington’s “priority watch list” for IP protection infringement, according to a report issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
The Special 301 Report, separate to the Section 301 investigation that launched the US government’s tariff action against Beijing last summer, is issued yearly by the USTR to assess the “adequacy and effectiveness” of trading partners’ intellectual property rights protection.
China has been either listed on the “priority watch list” or identified as a “priority foreign country” for most of the years since the report was first issued in 1989.
The country’s placement on the priority watch list, which includes 10 other trading partners, “reflects the urgent need to remediate a range of IP-related concerns”, said a USTR official on Thursday, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.