The trade war between the United States and China has had far-reaching effects on international trade and the global economy. The dispute is slowly developing into a battle of attrition, without any immediate resolution on the horizon despite ongoing trade talks. As businesses change the way they operate in response to this unpredictable trade environment, corporate counsel should consider the risks and potential impacts on corporate IP strategy.

Background

The trade dispute is the culmination of long-standing tensions between the United States and China. For decades, the United States has maintained a trade deficit with China, and that deficit has increased dramatically in recent years—from less than $100 million in the late 1990s, the excess of U.S. imports from China over exports to China topped $419 billion in 2018. See “The People’s Republic of China: U.S.-China Trade Facts,” Office of the United States Trade Representative (retrieved Sept. 17, 2019). This trade imbalance has resulted in the wide availability of inexpensive imported goods for the American public, but at the expense of manufacturing jobs in the United States.