David Thomas: “over the weekend the administration announced its decision to impose trade sanctions beginning on February 26 on the…”

“over the weekend the administration announced its decision to impose trade sanctions beginning on February 26 on the People's Republic of China in retaliation for the latter's dismal failure in safeguarding U.S. intellectual property rights. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, I fully support that decision. Since 1992, the PRC has failed to live up to its obligations under the Memorandum of Understanding on Intellectual Property Rights. Factories throughout China, especially in the southern and eastern provinces, continue to mass-produce pirated versions of American computer software, compact discs, CD-ROM's, and video and audio cassettes mostly for sale abroad. The USTR estimates that piracy of audio-visual works runs close to 100 percent, while piracy of other technological items such as computer software runs around 94 to 100 percent. In addition, piracy of trademarks is rampant. This piracy is much more than a minor nuisance. The sale of these pirated items has cost U.S. businesses more than $1 billion, a sum which threatens to increase exponentially as the number of pirated products swells. It endangers American jobs, as well as our primacy in software innovation.”