U.S. Ramps Up Scrutiny of E-commerce Counterfeits

U.S. Border control enforcers are signaling a more aggressive stance against what they say is a rising tide of counterfeits streaming in, especially through online purchases.  On Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a report saying it plans to ramp up enforcement against counterfeits, including by nudging e-commerce platforms to take more steps to thwart counterfeiters on their platforms and by empowering the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use all the resources at its disposal, including the threat of civil penalties, to target violators.   “It is critical to the integrity of e-commerce and for the protection of consumers and rights holders that e-commerce platforms that operate third-party marketplaces, and other third-party intermediaries assume greater responsibility, and therefore greater liability for their roles in the trafficking of counterfeit and pirated goods,” the report said.  The moves in particular target the import of small-value products under $800 that enter the country duty-free under the Section 321 statute, which include consumer products purchased online.  The report highlighted the exponential growth of e-commerce in recent years — e-commerce sales increased by 13.3 percent in the second quarter of 2019 from the previous year, with companies including Amazon and Walmart seeing especially rapid growth, according to

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