China will improve its IPR protection – but not as a result of US pressure

Patrick Mendis and Joey Wang say whatever measures the Trump White House deploys against China to enforce respect for intellectual property rights, it should not lose sight of the historical perspective of how nations develop. China today is only following in the footsteps of Japan and the US of old

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China is likely to be in transition to a competitor in intellectual property. The problem is that, unlike Japan, China is not only an economic competitor, but also an ideological competitor. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Published: 4:45pm, 16 May 2018Updated: 8:31pm, 16 May 2018

Even if the ongoing trade negotiations between China and the United States don’t look like a “trade war”, they can certainly be interpreted to be the events leading up to one.

In partial response to the US investigation into Chinese infringements of intellectual property rights (IPR), the government has recommended the application of an additional 25 per cent tariff on US$50 billion worth of Chinese products. In the meantime, China has its own list of US products subject to tariffs of up to 25 per cent. For starters, China has already stopped buying soybeans from the US, according to Soren Schroder, CEO of Bunge Ltd, an American agribusiness and food company.

At this point, the White House appears to have drawn the forward edge of the battle area. However, there seems to be a lack of consensus within the Trump administration as to the most effective approach to the desired outcome.

Between the upcoming midterm elections, and his decision to aid the Chinese tech giant ZTE, the calculus of the “America first” president appears to be one of mortgaging the long-term security interests of the US for short-term political gain for the Republican Party. It is clear that Donald Trump has had to walk back some of his pronouncements, not least because he still needs President Xi Jinping’s help with North Korea.

There are other factors Trump should consider regarding China’s intellectual property infringements.