The American government has put Taobao.com, Alibaba‘s online marketplace, back on its black list because it still sells counterfeit items. Alibaba says it is doing everything it can to prevent these sales, but apparently that is not enough.
Influence of the current political climate?
Four years ago, the site was taken off of the black list of companies that breach the copyright legislation after it had proven to have made strides to fight counterfeit items. However, it is now back on the list after dozens of Western trade organizations had criticized the Chinese company for counterfeit sales back in September. That criticism coincided with the American government’s investigation into which companies to add to its black list.
The move is quite a letdown for Alibaba, because it had been trying to motivate Western brand to sell product on its platforms. President Mike Evans wondered whether the current political climate helped motivate the decision to place his company on the black list, as president elect Donald Trump has, on multiple occasions, been very negative about his country’s current relationship with China.
