WASHINGTON — Amid rising trade tensions, Obama administration officials plan to raise concerns about intellectual property rights and enforcement at high-level meetings in China next week.
The U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, set for the industrial city of Hangzhou on Oct. 28 and 29, is a forum to address bilateral trade issues. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will cochair the meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also will be in the U.S. delegation.
“The first JCCT under the Obama administration provides an important opportunity to engage China on trade concerns impacting American companies,” Locke said Wednesday. “It is critical that we make progress on several priority issues, including intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, clean energy, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.”
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The meetings come as Washington and Beijing joust over trade. President Obama decided last month to impose punitive tariffs on imported Chinese tires. China promptly responded by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization. Scuffles over imported processed chicken from China and U.S. beef exports also have fueled the conflict.
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This week, China raised the ante by announcing it will impose antidumping duties of as much as 36.2 percent on nylon imported from the U.S., according to state press in China.
Senior administration officials said Wednesday they also would discuss market access for services companies, government procurement and agricultural issues with their Chinese counterparts.
Despite active engagement with China on a range of intellectual property issues, U.S. officials said the country still maintains a high piracy rate. China long has been a counterfeiting hot spot for U.S. brands. In an annual report this year, the USTR’s office expressed concern that China was moving toward less stringent enforcement of intellectual property rights.
According to the most recent statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, China was the source of 81 percent of goods seized for intellectual property violations last year. The figures showed that $102.3 million of fake shoes, $25.1 million of counterfeit apparel and $29.6 million of infringing handbags, wallets and backpacks were confiscated.