US blacklist of counterfeit peddlers could trigger trade row with China

© Ian Law

Alibaba has hit back at the US, which has blacklisted its Taobao e-commerce sites on its list of markets selling counterfeit goods. The Chinese conglomerate argued that it took down 98% of counterfeit products before any sales were made and that the US list, therefore, was “deeply flawed, biased and politicised”, raising fears of a trade skirmish with China. However, the US Trade Representative list notes that, in 2017, “more SMEs requested assistance from US government agencies and embassies regarding Taobao.com than any other ...