AliExpress and WeChat have been added to the US Trade Representative’s list of marketplaces where counterfeiting and piracy are prevalent.
Alibaba and Tencent’s Chinese e-commerce companies are the latest to come under scrutiny in the United States for alleged online fraud.
Trade Representative Office’s yearly report on “notorious marketplaces” that are “known to participate in or assist large trademark counterfeiting and copyright infringement” was released this week, and the news follows.
Alibaba’s AliExpress and Tencent’s WeChat are among the many Chinese firms that have made the list in previous years, and this year’s survey is no exception.
The ability to take advantage of a situation
“Significant China-based internet marketplaces that apparently support large trademark counterfeiting,” according to the United States.
A total of 42 online and 35 physical marketplaces are listed by the US Trade Representative (USTR) as possible locations for counterfeiting and copyright infringement. Besides AliExpress and WeChat, Baidu’s Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo, and Alibaba Taobao have been added in recent years and are still on this list.
Annually since 2011, the US Trade Representative’s yearly list has been a valuable tool for putting pressure on non-US businesses to modify their practises.
This list leads to the exchange of best practises around how firms can cope with what will be an ever-increasing challenge: counterfeiters, bad actors utilising these platforms, says Robert Holleyman, who was working at USTR under Obama.
U.S. employees are being harmed by the worldwide trade in counterfeit and pirated products,” Ambassador Katherine Tai said. Counterfeit products may put the health and safety of customers and workers all over the globe at risk because of the exploitative labour practises of those engaged in their production. Illegal trading further enhances this danger.
The United States is using every instrument at its disposal to try to restrain China’s rise. On the Chinese-made and imported items, Trump went farther than anybody else, imposing massive taxes. The two have had a falling out ever since.