U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday directed the U.S. trade representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to examine alleged China's intellectual property practices, despite worries about potential harms to China-U.S. trade ties.
"Ambassador Lighthizer, you are empowered to consider all available options at your disposal," Trump said at the White House before signing an executive memorandum authorizing Lighthizer to examine the issue.
While it's not clear whether Lighthizer would launch formal investigation into alleged China's IP practices, the move has raised grave concerns about potential bigger trade conflict between the two largest economies of the world.
China has urged the United States to objectively evaluate China's progress in protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and resolve the differences with China through dialogue and consultation.
"With the increasingly interwoven interests between China and the United States, a trade war will lead nowhere and neither side will win," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Monday at a regular news briefing.
China has always attached importance to protecting IPR by formulating laws and regulations, cracking down on violations and raising public awareness of IPR, Hua said.
