The US' dispute with China over its movie piracy and other copyright infringement may escalate into litigation as early as this month unless Chinese leaders offer an acceptable solution during summits with the US that start next week, people briefed on the matter said.
The US is preparing to file a lawsuit with the WTO alleging Chinese intellectual property laws fall short of the global requirements China agreed to when it joined the WTO in 2001, the people said. The administration has been discussing the legal strategy with the film, music and software industries and congressional staff members, they said.
Administration officials have said in those strategy meetings that they intend to file the suit if the summits in Washington fail to resolve the issue, the people said.
The preparation of a suit reflects frustration in Washington that promises China made to curb the illegal manufacturing of US goods haven't led to a decline in lost revenue from piracy. US companies say those losses total US$250 billion annually.
"There is still a lack of a meeting of the minds" over how China is dealing with the issue, said James Jochum, a former US Commerce Department official who now works on China issues at the law firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP in Washington.
"The US thinks it is going poorly, and the Chinese think it is going well. There is an incredible disconnect," he said.
Yan Xiaohong, the deputy commissioner of China's National Copyright Administration, and other Chinese officials say they are making progress to stem piracy. They point to recent mandates for businesses to buy legal software and new measures that transfer more copyright violation cases to criminal courts.
The decision to base a complaint on allegations that China fails to fulfill WTO standards requiring criminal prosecutions and transparency of rules represents a new US approach. Previously, US officials had discussed basing a suit on data showing the volume of illegal merchandise. That data has proven difficult to obtain, the people involved in the matter said.
The lawsuit would be one of the most complex cases in the 11-year history of the WTO, which oversees rules of international commerce for 149 member nations.
The US has made the protection of intellectual property the centerpiece of its trade agenda. It sees China as the center of global production for illegal copies of a wide variety of items including Harry Potter books, Microsoft software, Louis Vuitton handbags, automotive parts, and pharmaceutical medicine.
"China is manufacturing 80 percent of the pirated goods" out there, said Gregory Rutchik, a senior counsel at the law firm of Liner Yankelevitz Sunshine & Regenstreif LLP in San Francisco. "We are talking about a multi-billion dollar industry. The scope is just staggering."
US and Chinese trade officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday for an annual policy meeting in Washington that is intended to produce pledges on how the two nations conduct business with each other. In each of the last two meetings, China pledged new crackdowns on intellectual property rights violations, promises the US says haven't been fulfilled.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) is scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush in Washington on April 20 to talk abut a broad range of issues, including trade relations.
In addition to illegal goods being made in China for sale in China, pirated goods are now being exported to the US in record numbers, according to US officials.
"The results aren't there yet, and what we've told the Chinese government officials is that we applaud the efforts, but we want results," US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Friday.
In recent discussions with industry representatives, the US trade office complained that it hasn't been getting the data it needs from them to bring a case that would argue systematic piracy in China is a violation of WTO provisions.
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) said it has come up with a new pathway to shorten its gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), potentially achieving a breakthrough in making advanced semiconductors without cutting-edge equipment. Right now there is about a five-year gap between what TSMC is capable of and what Huawei, together with its manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), can produce. Huawei is to start making 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031 with its own “LogicFolding” technology, Huawei semiconductor chief He Tingbo (何庭波) said in a rare public appearance during a chip conference yesterday, while TSMC has
RSS