U.S. Files Piracy Complaints Against China at WTO

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 10: The U.S. government has lodged
two complaints against China at the World Trade Organization, citing the
rampant piracy of American intellectual property in the country.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab noted: “Piracy and
counterfeiting levels in China remain unacceptably high. Inadequate protection
of intellectual property rights in China costs U.S. firms and workers billions
of dollars each year, and in the case of many products, it also poses a serious
risk of harm to consumers in China, the United States and around the world.”

She continued: “We acknowledge that China’s leadership has
made the protection of intellectual property rights a priority and has taken
active steps to improve IPR protection and enforcement. However, while the
United States and China have been able to work cooperatively and pragmatically
on a range of IPR issues, and China has taken numerous steps to improve its
protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, we have not been
able to agree on several important changes to China’s legal regime that we
believe are required by China’s WTO commitments. Because bilateral dialogue has
not resolved our concerns, we are taking the next step by requesting WTO
consultations. We will continue to welcome dialogue with China in an effort to
resolve these issues. We also look forward to continuing fruitful bilateral
discussions with China on other important IPR matters we have been working on
together, since achieving comprehensive IPR protection requires concerted
efforts on many fronts. Ultimately, it is in the best interest of all nations,
including China, to protect intellectual property rights.”

One of the complaints submitted says that lax enforcement of
copyright protection in China violates WTO rules. The second contends that the
Chinese government has set up illegal barriers against the sale of legitimate
U.S. movies, music and books.

The Chinese government has not taken well to the complaints,
with Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei stating: "The Chinese
government has always been firm in protecting intellectual property rights and
attained significant achievements in this respect." Wang criticized the
U.S.’s action, saying it would “seriously undermine" economic and trade
relations between the two countries.