WASHINGTON — A gaggle of bipartisan Home lawmakers on Monday outlined a plan to stem the circulation of counterfeit merchandise from China and diff
WASHINGTON — A gaggle of bipartisan Home lawmakers on Monday outlined a plan to stem the circulation of counterfeit merchandise from China and different international locations into the USA by making e-commerce firms equivalent to Amazon legally accountable for faux items offered on their web sites.
The proposed laws was a uncommon present of bipartisanship within the Home of Representatives, which has been sharply divided after the impeachment of President Trump. However frustration that giant companies will not be doing sufficient to guard American customers from the risks of illicit products coming from China is a matter that has galvanized Republicans and Democrats alike.
The invoice, referred to as the Store Protected Act, would create trademark legal responsibility for firms promoting counterfeit items that pose dangers to client well being and security, like medicine and medical merchandise. It will additionally power firms to extra rigorously vet sellers who function on their platforms and to take away counterfeit listings and people who repeatedly promote knockoffs.
“Shopper lives are in danger due to harmful counterfeit merchandise which might be flooding the web market,” Consultant Doug Collins, Republican of Georgia, mentioned in an announcement. “Congress should create accountability to stop these hazardous gadgets from infiltrating the houses of hundreds of thousands of People.”
Mr. Collins is co-sponsoring the invoice with Consultant Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the Home Judiciary Committee, together with Consultant Martha Roby, an Alabama Republican, and Consultant Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat.
“Customers ought to have the ability to belief that what they see and buy on-line is what they’ll get, however counterfeiters proceed to hitch platforms with ease and masquerade as dependable sellers as a way to infect American households with harmful and unsafe counterfeit merchandise,” Mr. Nadler mentioned, including that the laws would “sort out the gaps” within the present vetting techniques that e-commerce firms use.
As a part of the trade agreement between the USA and China reached earlier this yr, China mentioned it will work to fight copyright infringement and counterfeiting on e-commerce web sites by penalizing native retailers that repeatedly promote faux items.
Firms like Amazon have usually been exempt from authorized legal responsibility for merchandise offered by different retailers utilizing their on-line platforms. Nonetheless, Amazon acknowledged final yr that “civil or criminal liability” for illegal actions by its sellers was a danger.
A report launched earlier this yr by the Division of Homeland Safety really useful inserting the next burden on e-commerce portals equivalent to Amazon and Walmart.com by holding them accountable for faux or illicit merchandise offered by third-party sellers on their web sites.
Peter Navarro, the director of the White Home Workplace of Commerce and Manufacturing Coverage who helped oversee the suggestions, has been important of Amazon for taking advantage of counterfeits. He mentioned in January that “underneath present lax interpretations of the legislation, e-commerce platforms face nearly no legal responsibility for his or her counterfeit trafficking.” Mr. Navarro has been working, unsuccessfully, to arrange assembly with Jeff Bezos, the chief govt of Amazon, to debate counterfeit gross sales.
Amazon mentioned on the time that its efforts to fight gross sales of counterfeits have been “greatest at school,” however it acknowledged that there was extra work to be performed.
Mr. Collins mentioned the proposed laws would assist Mr. Trump and Mr. Navarro obtain their purpose of curbing counterfeits. The White Home is predicted to help the laws, however its pathway within the Senate is unclear.
In unveiling the invoice, the lawmakers famous that the Authorities Accountability Workplace lately discovered that 20 of 47 gadgets bought from third-party sellers on widespread client web sites have been counterfeit. A lot of these merchandise, which embrace automobile seats, airbags and child components, pose life-threatening dangers.