Source: CNBC News
The US Trade Representative’s office reported the latest news about China’s e-commerce sites on Thursday, February 17. E-commerce sites under Chinese groups of Tencent and Alibaba have now been added to the US Government’s new “notorious markets list.” It includes 42 online and 35 physical markets that are said to have engaged or taken part in facilitating significant trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
The 42 online markets based in China also includes ‘Baidu Wangpan,’ ‘Pinduoduo, ‘DHGate’ and ‘Taobao.’ Along with it, about nine Chinese physical markets that are known to be part of manufacturing, distributing and selling counterfeit goods. The details were provided by the US Trade Representative’s office.
In retaliation, China was in disagreement to the decision made by the US Government to add these sites to the notorious markets list. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce remarked it as ‘irresponsible’ on the US Officials’ side.
In a statement last week, the office of US Trade Representative mentioned,
“This includes identifying for the first time AliExpress and the WeChat e-commerce ecosystem, two significant China-based online markets that reportedly facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting,” the USTR office said in a statement.
The reactions of Alibaba and Tencent came in as markets under them were put in the particular list. Alibaba stated that they would continue working with the agencies of the concerned government. In the process, they would address concerns relating to protection of intellectual property across all its platforms.
Similar to the Chinese ministry officials, Tencent disagreed with the move and is hoping to continue working “collaboratively” to solve the matter. They claimed to be committed to actively monitoring, deterring and taking action when violations occur. They assured that they significantly invested its resources to actively protect the intellectual property rights.
Though it does not carry penalties, their inclusion in market list comes as a blow to their professional reputation. Industry groups such as the Motion Picture Association and, the American Apparel and Footwear Association embraced the release of this report.
On Wednesday, February 17, the office of USTR release another report. In the report, they remarked that the United States needed to adopt new strategies and give a new face to its trade relations for China’s “state-led, non-market and practices.”
The tensions between the U.S. and China have also spread to its trade relations. It has escalated over years on issues like prices, technology and intellectual property, etc. The US accused China of not having complied with its commitments in the trade agreements signed till now.
