Hatch Says Trade Report Fails to Recognize India’s Intellectual Property Violations

Utah Senator Says, "This is major step back in America’s efforts to end such unfair trading practices.”

WASHINGTON –Today, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said the Obama Administration’s failure to recognize the threat of India’s intellectual property (IP) abuse in the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s 2015 Special 301 Report is a “major step back” in the United States’ efforts to put an end to the India’s ongoing unfair trade practices that are harmful to American job creators.

“Once again, the Administration has missed the mark,” said Hatch. “After squandering the opportunity to crack down on India’s rampant IP violations in their Out of Cycle review last year, they have now issued a report that that fails to fully recognize the seriousness of India’s harmful IP policies. This is major step back in America’s efforts to end such unfair trading practices. At a minimum India should be kept under the microscope with another targeted investigation. This lack of progress is disappointing. We must refocus our efforts and keep pressure on India to follow the rules of the global trading system.”

Hatch has long fought to preserve strong IP standards in the international trading system. This year, he introduced the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 which includes additional tools for USTR to increase the effectiveness of the Special 301 Report.

Specifically, the measure establishes a Chief Innovation and IP Negotiator at USTR, to elevate the importance of IP protection at USTR and enhance USTR’s accountability to Congress. It would further enhance the effectiveness of the Special 301 Report by elevating the importance in the Report of trade secret theft, and by requiring that USTR develop a meaningful action plan for countries, such as India, that consistently fail to adequately protect intellectual property rights. The measure was reported out of the Finance Committee last week.

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