Four Nations Facing Trade Complaints

Portugal, Pakistan, India and Turkey were targeted by the Clinton administration for their alleged failure to properly protect U.S. copyrights and patents.

Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky announced on Tuesday that the administration planned to file complaints against those four nations with the World Trade Organization in Geneva as part of its continued effort to halt violations that U.S. businesses claim are costing them billions of dollars in lost sales.

In addition to WTO cases against the four countries, Barshefsky said China was being targeted as a “priority foreign country” for its failure to live up to a 1995 copyright protection agreement and could face U.S. trade sanctions.

While the announcement did not spell out when those sanctions could be imposed, U.S. officials stressed that time was running out for China to come into compliance.

The administration reportedly is considering issuing a list by May 15 of $2 billion in Chinese products that would be hit with punitive tariffs.