House Commerce Republicans Quiz E-Marketers on Counterfeit Policies

There appears a “connection" between the "proliferation" of e-commerce and its third-party sellers and the increase in counterfeit goods from China, three House Commerce Republicans wrote the CEOs of Amazon, eBay and Facebook Tuesday. President Donald Trump “negotiated important provisions to combat counterfeits” in the U.S.-China phase one trade agreement (see 2001160022), but “government action alone is not enough,” said ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C. “More must be done by the private sector to address these concerns,” they said. They asked for written responses and “documentation” by Aug. 17 to questions about policies and procedures for vetting third-party sellers, including for links, “direct or indirect, to the Chinese Communist Party or Chinese state-owned entities.” The lawmakers also want to know what procedures are in place “to address the sale of counterfeit and stolen goods on your platform,” and what “proactive actions” they take to prevent the sale of bogus goods. The companies didn’t comment.