US may approach WTO unless China tackles piracy

Washington: The United States might file a case at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) unless China takes more action soon to reduce piracy and counterfeiting of US goods, the top US trade official said.

"We are all going to run out of patience at some point and that will be, I suspect, sooner rather than later," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in an interview taped for C-SPAN's Newsmakers, which airs tomorrow.

The United States agreed last year to delay filing a WTO case after China indicated its willingness to do more to address US concerns.

However, many US lawmakers are frustrated that China's piracy rates remain among the highest in the world.

Earlier this month, the International Intellectual Property Alliance - a coalition of US movie, software, music and book industry groups - estimated they lost $2.2 billion in the China market in 2006 because of piracy.

"The intellectual property rights issue is one of the thorniest ones that our office faces with respect to China," Schwab said. "The easiest thing that somebody in my position could do on this is file a WTO case."

But that might not be the best or quickest way to achieve results for US industry, Schwab said.

Last year, the United States had success when Beijing agreed to make sure that computers manufactured in China were loaded with legitimate software.

"If we can identify solutions like that, where you really make a difference in terms of dollars and cents of sales, and you do that in the near term, that's a far better solution than undertaking litigation," Schwab said.

Anger over other issues - such as Beijing's exchange rate policies and its $232 billion trade surplus with the United States - could lead to legislation against China this year.

Schwab acknowledged that possibility, but said lawmakers should avoid any action against Chinese imports that could backfire on the US economy through higher costs.

"We need to make sure when we address the bilateral trade deficit, we're doing so in a constructive manner that expands trade, rather than punishing our own producers and workers in the process, and consumers," Schwab said.