The U.S. recently released its Section 301 Investigation Report for 2021, which shows that the Chinese Communist Party has not fully met its commitments to protect intellectual property rights and that infringing activities have intensified under the raging plague.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai released her first 301 report since taking office on April 30, local time. According to the Hong Kong Economic Times, the report said that the pandemic has led to a significant increase in online shopping, and has also led to some intellectual property protection issues. And China, the world’s largest e-commerce market with rampant pirated goods, has also seen a shift in shopping from traditional markets to online leading to more serious piracy and more rampant crimes of infringement.
The mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil and Argentina are all named as subscribers to illegal audio and video streaming platforms, with the mainland being the center of manufacturing of related equipment.
The report also says that the mainland’s judicial system is flawed and that the CCP’s judicial system is unable to effectively protect the intellectual property rights of foreign companies, and that “true independence of the judiciary is quite critical to promoting the rule of law and protecting intellectual property rights in China, but the CCP leadership is less receptive.”
The report said Chinese officials have made statements that IPRs must be linked to national security and that “homegrown” innovation must be developed.
According to USTR, “Such statements and measures have raised questions about whether forced technology transfers, as well as IPR safeguards and enforcement, would be applied fairly to foreign owners in China.”
The report also said that some countries and regions have reported that the pandemic has increased demand for testing reagents, personal protective equipment such as N95 masks, disinfectants, and cleaning agents; however, countries are buying large quantities of counterfeit goods from China.
The report maintains China (CCP) on the Section 301 “Priority Watch” list of countries and the Section 306 surveillance list. China has been on the Watch List for 17 consecutive years.
The USTR publishes the 301 Report annually, which names countries and regions that do not adequately or effectively protect intellectual property rights. The agency conducts trade remedy proceedings relating to intellectual property rights under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, as provided for in Section 182 of the Act.
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