Washington – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is back on the U.S. government’s annual list of “notorious markets” that sell pirated goods.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says Alibaba’s on-line marketplace Taobao sells “high levels of counterfeit” goods and is slow to respond when companies complain that its vendors are selling knockoffs.
USTR took Alibaba off the blacklist in 2012, but several U.S. trade groups successfully sought to get it reinstated.
Alibaba Group President Michael Evans says the company is “disappointed.” He says the company is policing vendors more effectively than it was four years ago.
Evans questioned whether the USTR decision was “based on actual facts or was influenced by the current political climate.” During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump blasted China for stealing intellectual property.