From the New York Times (photo: seized counterfeit Nike shoes by Tianjin Customs, via customs.gov.cn):
After months of prodding China to crack down on pirated copies of American movies, music and software, the Bush administration appears ready to escalate the dispute into a legal confrontation.
In recent weeks, administration officials have strongly hinted that they are close to filing a formal trade complaint against China at the World Trade Organization, saying that China has failed to prosecute all but a small fraction of the ubiquitous and visible street trade in bootlegged American entertainment.
“The United States has made it clear that formal W.T.O. consultations will be necessary without concrete actions by China in this area,” the office of the United States trade representative warned this week in its annual trade report to Congress. [Full Text]
