Even after completion of the current trade deal with China, concern over intellectual property will continue. Because of the complexities of this issue, the current trade deal will not end potential IP theft.
As a CNBC article points out, the U.S. and China will want to move forward in doing business with each other under any circumstances. Currently, the two nations agreed upon placing any trade war on hold for at least 90 days in hopes of resolving issues concerning purported theft.
There is not a great deal of confidence that the two nations can resolve all issues in such a short period of time. But if there is no resolution during that period of time, it could mean that the U.S. will raise tariffs up to 25 percent.
Hopefully, China will make concessions to U.S. demands. One equity specialist stated: “For tech services, China may have to eliminate some non-tariff trade barriers such as local partner requirements for foreign cloud service and software providers.”
Downplaying of IP concerns
Rather than addressing IP concerns, the U.S. seems more intent on focusing upon trade deficits. But not placing emphasis on IP matters also means that both nations understand it will take time to resolve lingering issues. Not focusing on IP concerns may also indicate that the U.S. would like to ratchet down the talk about the ongoing trade wars.
Whether IP matters are as important as some claim depends partially on who one believes. One head of an international economics institute stated that there’s legitimacy in complaints regarding IP theft. However, he added it is not “as damaging or important as some make it out to be.”
Companies doing business in China will wish to negotiate exclusive license ideas for their products. For such businesses, this would likely entail locating an experienced legal advocate who understands how such a process takes place.