The Bush administration, under pressure to deal with a soaring trade deficit with China, has asked the Chinese government to outline what it's doing to reduce the piracy of American movies, computer programs and other copyrighted material.
The formal request for details on China's enforcement efforts was made through the Geneva-based World Trade Organization and could be a precursor to WTO-authorized economic sanctions if the U.S. uses the information in a trade case against China. Japan and Switzerland have filed similar requests.
American businesses contend they are losing billions of dollars a year because China is failing to enforce the laws it has on the books to prevent the piracy of American-made movies, music, computer software and other products. The U.S. industry has estimated that in some categories virtually 90 percent of the items being sold in China are pirated.