Chamber Praises USTR Efforts on China IPR Enforcement

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States Chamber of Commerce today praised the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for seeking clarity from China on the effectiveness of its intellectual property (IP) enforcement efforts. The United States, Japan, and Switzerland formally requested that China transparently document its actions under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to enforce intellectual property rights.

"We hope that China will view today's requests by the United States, Japan, and Switzerland as an opportunity to demonstrate to the world its strong commitment to enforce IPR," said Myron Brilliant, Chamber vice president of East Asia. "China needs to shed light on what it is doing to enforce its IPR laws and provide evidence that its current enforcement is actually deterring IP theft."

In its recently released fourth annual review of China's WTO implementation performance, the Chamber highlighted the importance of China cracking down on counterfeiting and piracy. The Chamber's report cites continuing high rates of IP infringement in China. This costs U.S. companies billions of dollars annually across a wide range of sectors, including automotive, consumer goods, software, and media and entertainment.

"The Chamber will work with Chinese officials to develop solutions to IP and other trade differences, but our members expect China to follow through on the promises it made this summer to USTR and the Department of Commerce," said Brilliant. "The burden is on China to show that its promises are deterring IP theft through increased prosecutions, convictions, and incarcerations of violators."

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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