Posted on 01/12/2017 2:36:27 AM PST by expat_panama
Many assert that President-elect Donald Trump is against free trade. But standing against the theft of intellectual property and old-fashioned mercantilism, as Trump has promised to do, is an appropriate role for the chief executive. Allowing other countries to cheat us is not free trade.
America consistently outperforms the rest of the world in the sphere of intellectual property. People throughout the world identify with American art, music, software, and clothing designs, and benefit from American pharmaceuticals and patents.
Yet American intellectual property is routinely stolen. Each year, the United States Trade Representative publishes a report entitled “Special 301 Report” on intellectual property theft—yet does nothing about it.
This year Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela are the 11 countries on the “Priority Watch List.” USTR has “the most significant concerns regarding insufficient [intellectual property rights] protection or enforcement or actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.” Another 23 countries are on a “watch list.”
Most of the same countries are on the “priority watch list” year after year. China and several other countries have been on the list for many years. There is no credible punishment from stealing American intellectual property, so countries continue to do it. Theft pays.
Intellectual property is stolen when American corporate employees are thrown in prison or harassed in a government shake-down, or when American companies are hauled into foreign courts and accused of stealing their own patents. Sometimes American Internet companies are kicked out a country that fosters its own imitative companies to displace the American ones. In other places, pharmaceuticals are manufactured without license. And by now everyone knows about foreign hackers invading American websites.
American businesses have grown inured to intellectual property theft. They expect theft in countries around the world and they cannot fight back because they risk being banned from lucrative markets. The combination of theft and no enforcement reinforce one another, and our government needs to respond.
It is not just American businesses that lose, it is also American creators. Millions of Americans create and promote intellectual property. When foreigners copy CDs and sell these pirated copies on the streets, our creators are worse off.
Although USTR publishes reports every year identifying American intellectual property theft, it usually does nothing to prevent such theft or punish countries that foster intellectual property theft.
America continues to provide full access to American markets for offending countries. Pirate countries have little if any incentive to respect our property. The wonder is not that some countries steal our intellectual property; the wonder is that all countries do not steal our intellectual property given the weakness of our response.
Countries may tell us that it is impossible for them to prevent their citizens from copying our goods. But when China, for example, can make book publishers in Hong Kong disappear because it disagrees with the content of the books, it can certainly close down the fake Apple stores.
America should take a tough line with countries on the USTR’s Section 301 Priority Watch List. Here are five suggestions.
1. We could limit their commercial activities in the United States. Alternatively, we could limit imports of those products with their intellectual property—or ours.
2. When an American company is being harassed in a foreign country, we could haul the ambassador in and ask what is going on. If China holds up our imports, we could hold up their imports.
3. If the country is on the special watch list, the Commerce Department could request the International Trade Administration do audits of intellectual property protection in those countries.
4. We could limit, and not expand, the commercial activities of countries on that watch list.
5. If a country appears for a second year on the list, the Commerce Secretary could be required to prepare a special report to the President on remedial actions.
Our government should be proudly standing up for our companies. It is not free trade when other countries steal our products. And retaliating against theft does not violate the principles of free trade.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter here.
You've gone on record posting that you do not care about the rust belt, de industrialization and lower middle class in the USA. You actually believe trade deficits don't matter and the USA, currently running an $800B annual trade deficit, is will never be harmed by this incredible wealth transfer.
The real whopper is when globalist Free Traitors™ tell us we are not in a trade war now and the "starting" one will be a bad thing. I find this the kind of logic similar to a rapist uses when "consoling" their victim to "lay back and enjoy it". Same mentality.
As far as I know, China is the biggest offender, and it has absolutely no shame about the practice.
A few years ago, I read a scientific publication written by some Chinese researchers. In the article’s “Materials and Methods” section, they described using a Chinese instrument to measure DNA. Hmm. I looked up the instrument they reported using, and found that it is an *exact* duplicate of an instrument invented and sold by an American company. Even the shape of the instrument was the same. It was obvious that some outfit in China procured one of the American instruments, reverse engineered it, and began selling copies of it.
In return for their stealing our technology, we buy tons of cheap goods from them. They are becoming rich, but not by hard work to invent things. They are getting rich by stealing intellectual property and selling cheap knockoffs back to us.
The Chinese have a reputation for being super smart. A few months ago, I had a conversation with a colleague who told me that he does not think the Chinese are as smart as their reputation claims. Indeed, he does have a point. They steal technology, but how much do they actually invent?
The US used to have laws against selling high-tech devices to other countries. Maybe it’s time to start enforcing those again.
Thanks to our new glorious Leader, Trade Deniers have been marginalized and quarantined. The sun has set on their globalist, new world order.
Sure, you see line extensions like diet, vanilla, caffeine free Coke, but nothing new.
I believe Americans have all but stopped innovating. Why? If you bring something new to the market the Chinese will just rip it off and sell the copy cheaper than you can.
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