Intellectual Property Theft Dispute Is Unlikely To Start A Trade War

According to Dennis C. Blair, a former director of national intelligence, and Keith Alexander, a former director of the National Security Agency, intellectual property theft is costing the US economy $600 billion a year. Writing in the New York Times, the duo calls this loss the “greatest transfer of wealth in history” and blame China for the majority of this theft that is costing US companies 3.2% of GDP every year.

Intellectual property theft is the latest target of the Trump administration. Intellectual property theft covers a broad spectrum covering everything from counterfeiting fashion designs to pirating movies, video games and infringing patents of proprietary technology and software.

On Monday, Trump authorized an inquiry into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property,...