China is once again “the number one source of counterfeit products in the world,” the report stated.
The latest annual report published on Jan. 8 shows that counterfeit and pirated goods from China or shipped from China via Hong Kong account for 84 percent of the total value of counterfeit and pirated goods seized by U.S. customs.
Several major Chinese e-commerce marketplaces are among the 38 notorious online markets listed, including Alibaba’s Taobao, DHgate, Baidu, the fast-growing Pinduoduo, and others. Seven physical markets in China that trade large quantities of counterfeit products are listed among the 33 physical markets involved in trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
Douyin Mall, the e-commerce platform of Douyin—the Chinese version of ByteDance’s TikTok platform—was added to the notorious markets list for the first time, due to a “‘rocketing’ increase in the amount of counterfeit goods on the platform,” the USTR said.
Meanwhile, Chinese tech giant Tencent’s popular social media app WeChat didn’t appear on the list. It had been on the list since 2021.
However, Tencent was listed as one of the companies aiding Beijing’s military by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on Jan. 7. Being named by the DOD does not lead to any immediate sanctions but could affect the reputations of the listed companies and their commercial development globally, especially in the United States.
When asked about Tencent being named by the DOD, Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Chinese regime’s foreign ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Jan. 7, “China stands firmly against the U.S.’s practice of overstretching the concept of national security, making discriminatory lists in various names, and going after Chinese companies to contain China’s high-quality development.”
The USTR first began publishing the notorious markets review in 2006 to protect U.S. consumers and businesses.
“Counterfeiting and piracy is a shared global concern, harming people not just in the United States but also other countries,” Ambassador Katherine Tai, the principal trade adviser, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy, said on Jan. 8.
Being listed by the USTR damages a company’s reputation but doesn’t result in sanctions or other practical effects.
The USTR’s “notorious markets” list has a certain degree of credibility, Lai Rongwei, Taiwanese researcher and CEO of the Taiwan Inspirational Association, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 11.
“In democratic countries and in civil society, consumers have rights,” he said. “The publication of the ‘notorious markets’ list is to inform everyone, and then consumers make their own choices.”
Although WeChat did not make the 2024 list, multiple Chinese online markets were named.
“So I personally think that China’s infringement on intellectual property rights overall is still very serious,” Lai said.
These Chinese companies will not address their counterfeiting or copyright infringement behaviors just because they are included on the list, Shen Ming-Shih, director of the Division of National Security Research at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 11.
“As far as the Chinese regime is concerned, the financial purpose of their various business operations or exports is paramount, and intellectual property rights and environmental protection are secondary issues,” he said. “Even if the companies are caught or exposed, they will take evasive and concealing measures instead of changing.”
