In March 2018, Donald Trump decided to impose tariff on $50 billion worth of imports from China. This was done as a punishment or the alleged theft of American intellectual property.
I am confident that most of you won’t be knowing about exactly what’s an intellectual property. So let’s see that first.
Intellectual Property is any creation of mind. This maybe invention, literary, artistic works, symbols (as defined by the World Intellectual Property Organization). These are protected in the law by trademarks, patents and copyright.
This helps people earn recognition or any other benefit from what they invent or create. Hope this clears everything about Intellectual Property.
Trump’s decision
The first trade action, Trump ordered tariffs to be imposed on certain goods. This included goods like tennis shoes to electronics. Tariffs were imposed on those goods also which didn’t made the violation of American IP. The tariff was about ten percent of the value of China’s exports to the U.S.
The figure of $50 billion dollar is based on U.S. estimates of the lost corporate earnings caused by China’s alleged IP theft. This is also included the forced technology transfers.
They also want to know about pursue a World Trade Organization complaint against China for discriminatory licensing practices and to propose new restrictions on Chinese investments to protect the technology of United States of America.
One example of this is big barker vs bully beds case.
Companies like Lighthizer has already investigated into the stealing of Intellectual Property. There are strong evidences to prove that the stealing is true. China has used foreign-ownership restrictions to force companies of USA to switch technology to local firms. The same evidences prove that China conducted cyber attacks to access trade secrets.
Affect
This has not only affected Chinese companies but also non-chinese companies. They now need to lower their price to compete in China.
A study claims that –
1. Trademark infringement was the most common form of Intellectual Property violation in China
2. Copyright infringement was the most damaging form of Intellectual Property violation
In 2017 China started a campaign across the nation to protect the foreign firms’ international property rights.
China ranks 25th in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s International IP Index. This index helps measures a particular country’s commitment to protecting innovation through legal rights.
Guess who’s 1st?
USA is ranked number one this index.
Most diplomats told that China really need to resolve to tackle this IP issue. The issue is very alarming.
In the recent years the American IP owners have been quite successful in enforcing their rights in courts. According to the Economic Espionage Act, passed by Congress in 1996 to FBI and CIA reports of industrial espionage not only by China. It was passed by also by countries like Cuba, France, Israel and Russia.
Conclusion
With the evidences it’s quite clear that China is stealing IPs. Hope you were able to get a better understanding of the situation.
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