February 3, 2023

USTR Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy

USTR Releases 2022 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy

On January 31, 2023, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the findings of its 2022 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List). The Notorious Markets List highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.

“The widespread trade in counterfeit and pirated goods harms the economic security of American workers and undermines our work to craft equitable and inclusive trade policy,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “The Notorious Markets List is an important tool that urges the private sector and our trading partners to take action against these harmful practices.”

The 2022 Notorious Markets List’s issue focus section examines the impact of online piracy on U.S. workers. The section explains how online piracy can impact the wages, residuals, pensions, and health care benefits that workers in the creative industries depend on and how combatting online piracy requires coordination between relevant actors in order to effectively address the rapidly shifting delivery methods of infringing content.

The 2022 Notorious Markets List also identifies 39 online markets and 33 physical markets that are reported to engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. This includes continuing to identify the WeChat e-commerce ecosystem as one of the largest platforms for counterfeit goods in China. Online markets in China include Aliexpress, Baidu Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo, and Taobao. Physical markets located within China have been increasingly using brick-and-mortar storefronts to support online sales of counterfeits.

The Notorious Markets List does not constitute an exhaustive list of all markets reported to deal in or facilitate commercial-scale copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting, nor does it reflect findings of legal violations or the U.S. Government’s analysis of the general intellectual property protection and enforcement climate in the country concerned. Such analysis is contained in the annual Special 301 Report issued at the end of April each year.

USTR initiated the 2022 Notorious Markets List Review on August 26, 2022, through publication in the Federal Register of a request for public comments. The request for comments and the public’s responses are online at www.regulations.gov, Docket number USTR-2022-0010.

The complete 2022 Notorious Markets List can be found here.