Coverage: President asks for look into intellectual property theft by China

President Donald Trump wants an investigation of China for allegedly stealing intellectual property from American businesses, part of an effort to fulfill his hard-edge campaign promises on trade.

Glenn Thrush and Alan Rapeport of The New York Times had the news:

Mr. Trump will return to Washington from his working vacation at his Bedminster, N.J., golf resort on Monday to sign an executive memo asking the United States Trade Representative to determine whether to investigate state-backed theft by China of intellectual property from American technology and defense companies.

The request for an investigation will focus on Beijing’s practices of coercing American companies doing business in China to partner with local firms, which require them to turn over proprietary technological secrets as part of what American officials described as a coordinated effort to steal intellectual property.

Mr. Trump’s trade advisers, speaking to reporters on a conference call early Saturday, did not say why the administration decided to add the intermediate step of requesting an investigation, rather than starting one immediately. This month, people familiar with Mr. Trump’s deliberations suggested that the administration was prepared to immediately begin an inquiry into Chinese theft under the 1974 Trade Act.

Jackie Calmes of the Los Angeles Times reported that the move is still a long way from being punitive:

The president’s trade action will be a long way from any punitive move against China, despite his and his advisors’ open talk of Chinese “theft” and “stealing” of U.S. companies’ intellectual property, which broadly includes technological innovations, film and other artistic products, industrial designs and military secrets.

He simply will initiate the latest investigation of intellectual property theft in a long line of them running back through past administrations.

According to Trump advisors, on Monday, the president plans to sign an executive memorandum, which is a step below an executive order, directing trade officials to investigate China’s “acts, policies or practices” that violate international protections for American intellectual property, innovations and technology.

As a prime example of what the officials called China’s “unfair trade practices,” they objected that the country requires American businesses that want to operate there to form joint ventures with state-run companies and share intellectual property with them.

Lesley Wroughton of Reuters reported that Sen. Chuck Schumer took issue with the move:

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer took issue with that assessment.

“President Trump’s pattern continues: Tough talk on China, but weaker action than anyone could ever imagine,” he said in a statement. “To make an announcement that they’re going to decide whether to have an investigation on China’s well-documented theft of our intellectual property is another signal to China that it is O.K. to keep stealing.”

Any investigation that may be launched could take as long as a year to conclude, a third official said. He said it would be premature to speculate on actions that could eventually be taken against China, and added that the issue could be resolved through “negotiated agreement.”

Trump, who will interrupt a 17-day working vacation to make a day trip to Washington for the trade announcement, had been expected to seek a so-called Section 301 investigation earlier this month, but an announcement was postponed as the White House pressed for China’s cooperation on North Korea.