President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at preventing e-commerce companies from selling counterfeit and pirated goods from abroad in the United States. titled 鈥淓nsuring Safe and Lawful E-Commerce for United States Consumers, Businesses, Government Supply Chains, and Intellectual Property Rights Holders鈥 warns that e-commerce platforms are being 鈥渆xploited by traffickers to introduce contraband into the United States鈥 and urges all companies involved, including retailers as well as express carriers and mail companies, to take appropriate countermeasures.
鈥淭he trafficking of counterfeit and pirated goods is a scourge that causes significant harm to our workers, consumers, intellectual property owners, and economy,鈥 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement, adding that the phase one trade deal with China 鈥渋ncludes strong intellectual property protections and effective action against pirated and counterfeit goods鈥.
In fiscal year 2019, seized 27,599 shipments of goods that violated intellectual property rights. The retail value of the counterfeit goods amounted to $1.5 billion, meaning that the seized goods would retail for that much if they were legitimately sold. As our chart shows, that鈥檚 the highest value since 2013, even though the number of seized shipments actually declined significantly compared to previous years.
