National security adviser John Bolton said Tuesday that the U.S. ought to strengthen its defense of intellectual property at the annual Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting.
Bolton suggested a piece of legislation that would ban the import of any products or services that benefit or come from intellectual property theft.
“That’s not a tariff question — that’s a way of defending intellectual property from the United States,” Bolton said. “I think it’s an idea that should be considered...We may need additional legislation.”
President Donald Trump will head negotiations with China on several trade concerns, including intellectual property, sometime in the future, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin claimed on Monday. Bolton said at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting that the U.S. should pursue other means of pushing China besides tariffs.
“We need to see some major changes in their behavior,” Bolton said. “Is there a path forward in which we can have fair and reciprocal trade? Sure.”
Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow also spoke at the event, telling the various CEOs that they should be “realistic” about how China’s government feels about shifting towards free-market capitalism.
“I would like us to get a deal, but it’s got to be a good deal and it’s got to be verifiable,” he told the Journal later that day.
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