Trump makes IP pledge, May issues China warning
US President Donald Trump pledged to protect American IP yesterday, in his first State of the Union speech to Congress.
“And we will protect American workers and American intellectual property, through strong enforcement of our trade rules,” he said.
China was not named in the speech, but the US is currently investigating China’s IP practices.
He went on to say that the US expects “trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal” and that it will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones.
In January last year, Trump removed the country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
He’s currently in the midst of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. In November 2017, the Office of the US Trade Representative released a document outlining new objectives for renegotiations, including commitments on IP protection.
Last week, WIPR reported that the US commerce secretary had accused China of having “disrespect” for IP at the World Economic Forum.
Across the Atlantic, UK Prime Minister Theresa May urged China to respect the “rule book” and admitted that the countries may not always see eye-to-eye, in an opinion piece for the Financial Times, published yesterday.
Before a trade visit to China, May said that the UK and China need to protect the rules-based approach that underpins and enables global trade.
“So we will continue to look at what more can be done to tackle global overcapacity in sectors such as steel, and to ensure that, as our companies innovate and develop new products, they are confident that their IP and rights will be fully protected,” she added.
May also claimed that issues such as IP which have a direct impact on the livelihoods of workers are best tackled through global dialogue and co-operation.
In November, WIPR reported that China’s State Intellectual Property Office had signed a bilateral work plan for 2018 with the UK Intellectual Property Office.
Speaking to WIPR, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the UK said that China has always attached great importance to the protection of IP rights.
“To promote IP protection, China has made tremendous efforts in legislation, judicature, law enforcement, administration and public education, and has made remarkable achievements,” they said.
The spokesperson added that when looking at the efforts and achievements of Chinese enterprises in IP protection, people can come to a “comprehensive, objective and fair conclusion”.
“China is willing to enhance cooperation with all other countries and to jointly strengthen IP protection so as to promote the sustainable, healthy and stable development of its economic and trade relations with its global partners,” they concluded.
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