As anticipated in May, rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China have led to a series of escalating measures including tariffs and trade investigations.  In July 2019 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray noted that more than 1,000 active investigations on intellectual property theft “lead[] back to China.”  Against the backdrop of these issues, the Department of Justice announced the “China Initiative” on November 1, 2018.  The DOJ explained that the Initiative was launched against the background of prior findings by the Administration regarding China’s trade practices.  One of the China Initiative’s key goals is to “[i]dentify priority trade secret cases, ensure that investigations are adequately resourced; and work to bring them to fruition in a timely manner and according to the facts and applicable law.” READ MORE →

Trade Secrets Watch previously had its eye on the U.S. Trade Representative’s investigation on China’s alleged IP theft under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. As an update, late last month, President Trump announced the imposition of tariffs on as much as $60 billion worth of Chinese goods due to China’s alleged IP theft and intimidation tactics to obtain American technology. China, in turn, proposed tariffs of its own on 128 American products, valued at $3 billion. READ MORE →

As we previously reported, on August 14, 2017, President Trump signed an executive memo asking U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to determine whether to launch an investigation into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Later that week, after a review of Chinese laws, policies, and practices relating to IP, Lighthizer recommended and launched an investigation “to determine whether acts, policies, and practices of the Government of China related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” READ MORE →