Bill pressures Chinese government to end its strategy of stealing IP from American companies
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) today reintroduced the Combatting China’s Pilfering of Intellectual Property (CCP IP) Act, legislation to impose sanctions on Chinese individuals, companies, and organizations engaged in a pattern of intellectual property (IP) theft from the United States. By expanding the United States’ authority to block assets and restrict immigration of offenders, the CCP IP Act strengthens economic and diplomatic pressure on the Chinese Communist Party to cease its systematic misappropriation of protected American technologies.
“Utah is a major hub of entrepreneurship and innovation, and too many of our businesses have seen their intellectual property stolen by Chinese entities—frequently resulting in copycat products sold on sites like Temu,” said Senator Curtis. “This legislation directly punishes Chinese individuals, companies, and organizations who steal American IP and puts pressure on the CCP to stop its widespread trend of IP theft and replicating U.S. technologies.”
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today, Senator Curtis asked an expert witness—Peter Mattis, President of the Jamestown Foundation—to spell out how China’s intellectual property theft against Americans is an explicit project of the Chinese government. Watch that exchange here.
Background:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has found the annual cost to the U.S. economy of counterfeit goods, pirated software, and theft of trade secrets to be between $225 billion and $600 billion. The FBI has also asserted that China is the “world’s principal infringer of intellectual property,” and that it “uses its laws and regulations to put foreign companies at a disadvantage and its own companies at an advantage.”
FBI Agent David Fitzgibbons, who covers national security breaches in Idaho, Montana, and Utah, has warned that the greatest long-term threat in the United States, including Utah, is the CCP. “[The Chinese Communist Party] have a motto of rob, replicate and replace,” Fitzgibbons said. “They want to steal our trade secrets when it comes to our economy. With our corporations, they want to replicate and eventually replace us in the global marketplace.”
To address these economic and national security concerns, the CCP IP Act would:
- Impose sanctions on any person or entity determined to have engaged in a pattern of significant IP theft from a U.S. person or to have received stolen U.S. IP knowingly.
- Impose broad visa and immigration restrictions on CCP and government officials until the Chinese government takes meaningful steps to stop IP theft. U.S. visas would be denied to:
- Senior officials of the CCP and their spouses and children
- Members of China’s cabinet of government
- Active-duty officers in the People’s Liberation Army
- Impose penalties on anyone who attempts or conspires to violate sanctions.
Senator Curtis previously introduced a version of this legislation in the House.
The full text of the bill can be found here.
Additional Reading:
Deseret News: Sen. John Curtis pushes to enforce sanctions on Chinese companies engaging in U.S. intellectual theft