Trump's Declaring War on the Counterfeit Black Market

WSJ: U.S. Signals Crackdown on Counterfeit Goods Sold Online

1st Time We've Seen Presidential Engagement in the Counterfeit Black Market

Trump administration targets e-commerce operators with broader enforcement
in effort to compel companies help root out fakes

The Trump administration is moving to curb the sale of imported counterfeit goods over the internet, warning electronic commerce platforms and warehouse operators of greater scrutiny and penalties if they don’t help ferret out fakes.

The Department of Homeland Security is set to release a report Friday outlining its immediate actions and longer-term goals for enlisting e-commerce players to combat counterfeit products that officials say undermine U.S. technology and manufacturing, harm bricks-and-mortar retailers and endanger consumers.

The new initiative, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the White House, comes the same month as an initial trade agreement with China that requires Beijing to take steps against counterfeiters or risk enforcement actions that could trigger new tariffs.

The Trump administration is seeking to pressure e-commerce giants including Amazon.com Inc., which increasingly hosts lucrative third-party sales on its platform, as well as financial firms, logistics services and other companies that are positioned to help stem the rising tide of counterfeits and pirated goods.

The DHS report, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, says law enforcement will begin identifying cases immediately and “seek all available statutory authorities to pursue civil fines and other penalties against these entities.”

It also calls for new laws “to explicitly permit the government to seek injunctive relief against third-party marketplaces and other intermediaries dealing in counterfeit merchandise.”

“This is not about any one e-commerce platform—this is about e-commerce playing by a different set of rules that simultaneously hammer brick-and-mortar retailers, defraud consumers, punish workers and rip off intellectual-property rights holders,” said White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is helping lead the initiative.

As part of the enforcement effort, the report says customs agents will treat domestic U.S. warehouses and fulfillment centers, such as those operated by Amazon and others, as the “ultimate consignee” for goods that haven’t been sold to consumers, giving officials power to scrutinize shipments even after they have cleared the border and moved to a regional warehouse.

U.S. officials will share information with such warehouses about counterfeit goods and “request they pursue abandonment and destruction with the rights holders of any identical offending goods in their possession,” according to the report.

Article originally published on wsj.com