http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/china-ripoffs-cost-us-48-billion-and-923000-jobs-2009China Ripoffs Cost U.S. $48 billion and 923,000 Jobs in 2009
Submitted by Robert Oak on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 17:21
How Stupid Can America Be? Pretty damn stupid according to a new report by the United States International Trade Commission. In 2009, the United States lost $48 billion dollars and 923,000 jobs due to brazen theft by China. Yet, companies routinely think the great answer is to manufacture in China, due to lower costs. How can getting your product and design ripped off, with a knock-off, at least 30% cheaper than your own product appearing on store shelves, help a company increase their profit margins?
Such is the stupidity of American business today. The extent of intellectual property theft in China is overwhelming. If China enforced intellectual property rights to the level of the United States, we could gain 2.1 million jobs. That's how widespread and brazen intellectual property theft in China is. The USITC estimates what would happen to the U.S. economy if just intellectual property rights were enforced in China:
1. $21.4 billion increase in U.S. exports of goods and services
2. $87.8 billion increase in sales to U.S. majority-owned affiliates in China
3. Potential 2.1 million increase in net U.S. employment under conditions of prolonged and high unemployment
4. Some reallocations within the U.S. workforce towards more IP-intensive services sector jobs
As U.S. and other manufacturers moved their manufacturing operations abroad to Asia and other regions, opportunities for counterfeiting
increased from the standpoint of both the production process and the import supply chain.
In other words, those companies who funneled billions in new investment dollars to China, moved their manufacturing and business there, are much more likely to be ripped off. Others heavily targeted are those manufacturers with high value trademarks, such as Prada and Nike.
Below is a graph showing firms that reported intellectual property infringement were 58.1% of the 2009 China sales by U.S. intellectual property intensive businesses. So, in other words, companies targeted are large, multinationals, doing business in China and outsourcing.
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