AFTE Submits Comments for the 2022 USTR Special 301 Report
WASHINGTON (February 1) – Yesterday, the Alliance for Trade Enforcement submitted comments to inform the United States Trade Representative’s 2022 Special 301 Report. This annual review evaluates the global state of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement across all industries.
Using insights from various stakeholders, the resulting Special 301 Report identifies concerns with how individual countries fall short in protecting American innovation and intellectual property. This year, AFTE identified nonexistent or inadequate IP enforcement mechanisms in Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and South Africa.
“Intellectual property rights are the backbone of American innovation, supporting U.S. workers across every economic sector,” said AFTE Executive Director Brian Pomper. “When America’s trading partners fail to uphold intellectual property protections, they hurt U.S. workers and jeopardize our nation’s economic growth.”
AFTE found the following anti-IP proposals and practices to be particularly troublesome this year:
- Counterfeiting in Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia, which undermines American manufacturers and threatens consumer safety.
- Nontransparent pricing of medicines in Japan, Korea, and India, which undercuts innovation and discriminates against American pharmaceutical companies.
- Requirements in Canada that various manufacturers share business confidential information with the government, which they do not sufficiently protect.
- Quotas in Indonesia, Korea, and Mexico that limit the number of U.S. films that can be screened abroad, thereby hurting the U.S. film industry.
“Protecting the intellectual property rights that are responsible for as many as 45 million well-paying U.S. jobs from being stolen or ignored by our trading partners is key to a worker-centric trade policy,” said Pomper. “The Alliance for Trade Enforcement looks forward to working with Ambassador Tai and her team to enforce IP protections for the good of all U.S. workers, creators, and businesses.”
About the Alliance for Trade Enforcement: The Alliance for Trade Enforcement is a coalition of trade associations and business groups that advocates for foreign governments to end unfair trade practices that harm U.S. innovative industries and supports U.S. policymakers in their efforts to hold our trading partners accountable.
