2018-10 An Analysis of the U.S.-China Trade War: How the Section 301 China Intellectual Property Case May Impact New Directives to Promote the Made in China 2025

Article in SSRN Electronic Journal · October 2018  Harvard University

Abstract
Despite enhanced efforts from International Organizations to halt protectionism, economic nationalism has
become a global tendency, mostly accentuated by the Trump administration. One of the main concerns
discussed by scholars is the limited regulation of knowledge transfer and intellectual property protection that
may occur in new forms of trade, such as e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce. Remarkably, the Sino-
American Trade relations has been subject to such matters in different industries, resulting in a Trade War,
which is an increased trade barrier, in this case, through higher tariffs; as recently announced by the President
of the United States, Donald Trump.
This working paper aims to discuss the current U.S.-China Trade War, founded on an in-depth analysis of
one of the main triggers of the current disputes, the Section 301 China Intellectual Property (“IP”) case.
The research process will be framed by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
Agreement (TRIPS), the most relevant international binding document accepted by all WTO members
including China and the United States, and follow a detailed investigation regarding the impact of Outbound
Foreign Direct Investments (OFDIs) on cross-border e-commerce.
It will be hence paramount to assess challenges and new developments, especially for the Chinese Internet
giants’ expansion to the American market as part of the “Made in China 2025” National Plan. Finally, the
goal of measurement is to present a proposal to the limitations of existing bilateral and multilateral IP
protection mechanisms, considering that “free, fair and reciprocal trade” can only benefit global economic
growth.
Keywords: china, united states, trade war, intellectual property rights, TRIPS, cross-border e-commerce