The findings of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy were revealed yesterday (the Notorious Markets List). The Notorious Markets List identifies online and offline marketplaces that are suspected of engaging in or facilitating significant trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
The Notorious Markets List for 2021 also includes 42 online markets and 35 physical markets. These markets have accusations of engaging in or facilitating significant trademark counterfeiting or copyright theft.
Chinese Sites In Notorious Markets Lists
The US has added Alibaba and Tencent websites to its “Notorious Markets List”. As it suspects the involvement of companies in the illegal trade of counterfeit products.
They “engage in or encourage substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright privacy,” according to the US trade department.
The United States and China have been at odds for a long time over trade and technology.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said that AliExpress and WeChat e-commerce sites made it to the list for the first time. Alibaba owns AliExpress, while Tencent is in charge of WeChat.
The sites are described as “two major China-based online markets that support extensive trademark counterfeiting.”
Tencent stated that it has “significantly invested” in preserving intellectual property rights on its platforms.
In 2006, the USTR began recognizing “notorious markets.”
Its list aims to safeguard American firms and workers. From the negative consequences of low-cost counterfeit goods, whose production is typically outside the country.
Tariffs, technology, and intellectual property are still a source of contention between Washington and Beijing.
This week, tensions between the world’s two largest economies resurfaced.
Despite being a member of the World Trade Organization, China has frequently failed to live up to its trade responsibilities, according to the USTR’s annual report released on Wednesday.
It also claimed that China’s trade policies had caused “severe harm” to workers and businesses around the world.