Trade
Intellectual Property
Dispute Settlement

The United States filed two trade complaints against China at the World Trade Organization over piracy of American books, music, video and movies and limited market access for American products in China. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman expressed "great regret and strong dissatisfaction" and said the US action would "seriously damage cooperative relations in this sector, and will have a negative impact on bilateral trade." Defending China's efforts to protect intellectual property rights, a senior Chinese IPR official said, "It's not a sensible move for the US government to file such complaint."

Later, deputy US trade representative Karan Bhatia called the legal action "a responsible and mature way to deal with issues that have not managed to be resolved through other dialogue." In contrast, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi complained that the US move had set a precedent in the WTO for a member country mounting two cases simultaneously against another. She warned that the lawsuit "will have an utterly negative impact and will inevitably badly damage bilateral intellectual property cooperation,"

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