U.S. turns to WTO to end China's rampant piracy

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The U.S. will file two cases against China at the World Trade Organization in its efforts to stop Chinese piracy, the Bush administration said yesterday.

The administration wants the world trade body to clamp down on "inadequate" Chinese protection of U.S. copyrights and trademarks and on barriers China establishes against legitimate movies, DVDs, music and publications.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced the move yesterday at a press conference, flanked by a table loaded with boxes of fake versions of DVDs including "Walk the Line," "Jarhead" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"; CDs including Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross; books, including a "Harry Potter" novel; and Zippo lighters.

She told reporters that the administration had planned to file the complaints in October, but held off when it seemed the issue could be resolved without litigation.

U.S. industries that rely on copyrights lost an estimated $2.3 billion in revenue to piracy in China in 2005 alone, and nine out of every 10 DVDs sold in China are illegal copies, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

The action comes as Democrats, who now control Congress, have taken a tougher line against China because of the skyrocketing U.S. trade deficit with that country.

House Ways and Means trade subcommittee Chairman Sander M. Levin, Michigan Democrat, called the announcement "long overdue."

"No country in the world has done more to undermine American intellectual property than China, and yet we have not held them accountable to the rules of trade," he said.

"The administration needs to follow up on today's announcement to challenge and eliminate all of China's theft, piracy and open their markets to genuine American goods. This is an important part of making vital expanded trade a two-way street."

Yesterday's announcement follows two other actions to toughen up on China: imposing sanctions on Chinese high-gloss paper imports last month, which was the first time duties have been imposed on a communist country for subsidizing an industry; and a February announcement that it would take China to the WTO over subsidies.