【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】
tment barriers, while allowing it to maintain some level of protection (or a transitional period of protection) for certain sensitive sectors. China’s WTO membership was formally approved at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, on November 10, 2021. On November 11, 2021, China notified the WTO that it had formally ratified the WTO agreements, and on December 11, 2021, it formally joined the WTO. Violations of . Intellectual Property Rights Lack of effective and consistent protection in China of IPR has been cited by . firms as one of the most significant problems they face in doing business in China. Although China has improved significantly its IPR protection regime over the past few years by beefing up its IPR laws and conducting periodic focused campaigns (such as raids) against major IPR infringers, . industries plain that piracy rates in China remain unacceptably high. The . International Trade Commission (USITC) estimates that . intellectual propertyintensive firms that conducted business in China lost $ billion in sales, royalties, and license fees in 2021 because of IPR violations in China. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) estimated that business software piracy in China alone cost . firms $ billion in lost trade in 2021. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) estimates the mercial value of illegally used software in China in 2021 was $ billion, a $900 million increase over 2021 levels. Critics of China’s IPR regime note that, even when the Chinese government enforces its IPR laws, the resulting fines, seizures, and other punishments are often not significant enough to act as an effective deterrence against piracy. The . Customs and Border Protection reported that China accounted for 66% of pirated goods seized by the agency in FY2021 (based on domestic value). Piracy also has a number of negative effects on China’s economy. China and . Trade Remedy Laws When China entered the WTO in 2021, it agreed to allow the United States to continue to treat it as a nonmarket economy for 12 years (codified in . law under Sections 421of the 1974 Trade Act, as amended) for the purpose of . provision enables the United States (and other WTO members) to impose restrictions (such as quotas and/or increased tariffs) on Chinese products when imports of those products have sharply increased and have caused, or threaten to cause, market disruption to . domestic produce