Counterfeit goods kill U.S. jobs

Published 10:40 am Thursday, September 15, 2005

By Staff
WASHINGTON - American ingenuity can create great products, and American workers can produce them, but strong legislation is needed to keep cheap, counterfeit versions of these goods from entering the U.S. market, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said Wednesday.
Stabenow said the economic impact of counterfeit goods is "enormous" in the automotive sector alone - a cornerstone industry of the Michigan economy.
Stabenow noted that Michigan has lost more than 196,000 manufacturing jobs in the past 10 years.
The legislation, introduced Sept. 14, would add weight to existing trademark laws by requiring that all machinery, tooling and supplies used to make counterfeit items be destroyed as part of enforcement.
In addition, the bill would ban the trafficking in labels and other trademark items that can be attached to counterfeit products to represent them as the original, genuine item.