Interview with general counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce Cameron Kest

Interview with general counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce Cameron Kest

Feng Difan Taure

Cameron Chris, general counsel for the U.S. Department of Commerce, introduced an early warning system for infringing products on how Chinese E-commerce companies could "walk out" of the "notorious market" list of the U.S. trade office.

Kerry, who came to China for the 2012 Sino-US Legal Exchange seminar, said in an interview with the first financial daily: "In this system, Internet enterprises and property rights of all companies to monitor the electronic commerce environment, both sides timely exchange of information, once found illegal products, must immediately down the shelf." ”

In fact, as the chief architect of the legal framework of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Kerry has been in China every year since 2008 to communicate with China, which has been the high-frequency period of Sino-US trade disputes for four years. Kerry told reporters that he did not believe that Chinese companies to invest in the United States have encountered man-made obstacles, and do not agree with the Chinese state-owned enterprises in the dispute has been unfairly treated this view.

The early warning system of infringing products

The first financial daily: the real market crime transactions are relatively easy to find and evidence, but for E-commerce, online transactions dispersed, invisibility is difficult to track, which is currently China's Taobao is facing a major problem. Taobao is also listed as a "notorious market" for selling fake business, though they want to be removed from the list. What do you think of the efforts made by Taobao?

Kerry: An important purpose and role of the Sino-US legal exchange activities is to provide a platform for discussing these issues.

In the United States, enterprises have explored a number of mechanisms to deal with infringing products, through these mechanisms, enterprises can work with property rights of all companies to jointly combat infringement. In this meeting, the U.S. delegation also demonstrated the terms of E-commerce and copyright law and other relevant content. All these regulations and laws create an early warning system for infringing products, in which Internet companies and property rights companies jointly monitor the E-COMMERCE environment, exchanging information in a timely manner, and must immediately get off the shelves once they have found illegal products.

Of course, our laws should strike a balance between fighting against illegal activities and taking account of economic development. The law shoulders a multiplicity of tasks: one is to protect intellectual property rights, the other is to maintain the openness and freedom of Internet Information exchange, and third, to promote economic development. Because E-commerce has increasingly become an important driver of economic growth.

Daily: Taobao and other sites are still selling counterfeit brand-name products, in response to this situation, the U.S. Department of Commerce will take what measures?

Kerry: We certainly do not have the power to enforce the relevant laws in this case, and we will continue to improve the Chinese government's focus on this situation in a workable way.

On the current development of E-commerce in the United States, integrity is particularly important. Consumers will only pay if the information they are told is authentic and trustworthy, and in the long run, only reputable businesses can continue to operate and succeed.

In this legal exchange activity, ebay company from the United States also exchanged with Taobao, the representative of ebay introduced their experience in preventing and selling fake business, the company has made a clear terms of business, any violation of the merchant may be punished or even removed from ebay. Taobao Company has the obligation to formulate policies and the use of relevant technology to combat the sale of fake behavior, so as to win the trust of consumers, so as to achieve long-term success.

China's investment in the US will grow

Daily: Since the 2008 economic crisis, Chinese companies have been slower to invest in the United States than their investment growth rate in Europe. It is reported that many Chinese companies now complain that investment in the United States has encountered legal restrictions, reducing their confidence in the U.S. investment. What do you think about that?

Kerry: I disagree with that view. As we all know, the United States is the world's largest recipient of foreign direct investment, because the United States has a good investment environment, we have a low port tax, open and transparent mature market, foreign legal protection and so on. Even during the economic crisis, the United States maintained a high economic capacity.

Last June the US Department of Commerce announced a "Select America" program aimed at attracting more overseas investment and increasing employment opportunities, and the project also welcomed investment from China. There may be some misunderstanding about the obstacles to investing in the US, the most open economy in the world.

Of course, during the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, China's investment in the US did fall, but this situation has been reversed and we expect China's investment in the US to continue to grow in the long run.

Daily: In the US countervailing survey of Chinese companies, there is a saying that all Chinese state-owned enterprises, the US side appears to have accepted government subsidies for their products. Do you think that's true?

Kerry: That's not the case. I think the U.S. authorities will never judge on the basis of simple facts. Our import authority will fully collect evidence, strictly follow the procedure of investigation, and the investigation process is open and transparent, the investigation company has the right to participate in the evidence and debate, the final conclusion must be based on objective facts.

Also, the conclusions drawn by the import authority will ultimately need to be verified by the United States courts and the relevant WTO bodies. The state-owned nature of an enterprise is not the basis for judging whether or not to accept subsidies, and every case should be judged according to the facts. The United States import authority again this summer stressed the standards they uphold.