Letter to Michael Froman, Ambassador Office of the US Trade Representative - File Aggressive Suit at the World Trade Organization against China to Ensure that China is punished for Sanctioning Cyber-Attacks

Letter

Dear Ambassador Froman:

I am writing to urge you to initiate a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China for state-backed cyber espionage against American businesses and workers. The sanctioning of these attacks -- in which Chinese military officials have illegally gathered corporate information from members of the U.S. solar, nuclear and metal industries-- is a threat not just to these specific companies, but to our entire economy.

As you know, the Department of Justice this week indicted five Chinese military officials for stealing trade secrets and other sensitive business information from at least six U.S. business and labor groups. This is an important signal to China and other countries that cyber-attacks against U.S. businesses are absolutely unacceptable. However, the United States and other countries who are victims of these attacks are powerless to enforce their own laws if the offending country refuses to extradite the accused.

It is critical to the cyber security of American businesses that we have in place and take advantage of strong enforcement mechanisms to punish countries who sanction cyber-attacks. The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires each WTO member to protect trade secrets and Chinese policies that sanction cyber espionage are in clear violation of that agreement.

Again, I strongly urge you to use every tool at your disposal to combat this threat to our economy. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your reply.

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