Top U.S. Official Warns China on Piracy Anger

By REUTERS | The New York Times
November 14, 2006

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rampant Chinese counterfeiting is eroding American support for expanding bilateral trade, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Tuesday, stressing that a complaint to the WTO had not been ruled out.

Gutierrez told business executives in Beijing that illegal copying of medicines and other kinds of intellectual property (IP) was a threat to consumers' health.

``Another victim of widespread IP theft in China is American support for expanding our trade relationship,'' he said, adding that protectionist forces in the United States were pressing the issue.

``They point to the lack of robust IP protection in China as a top reason why we should put protectionist policies in place.''

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