Alibaba's popular e-commerce platform Taobao.com is back in the infamous list of US counterfeit goods, four years after it was removed from the blacklist. This is likely to pose a serious challenge to Chinese e-commerce giant's ambitious plan to expand in the US market.

The US Office of Trade Representative (USTR) said that it found oout that Alibaba's Taobao site had "unacceptably high level of counterfeit and fake goods."       

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Alibaba's President Michael Evans said that it was disappointed by the decision and maintained that it was doing everything possible to counter fake and counterfeit products.

Barely a month ago, Taobao website said that it has framed far stricter policies against copyright infringement and made it equally easier for sellers to report about fake goods. This action was apparently in response to a warning received by the company from USTR last December 2015, saying it needs to improve the quality of its listed good to avoid blacklisting.

Following the warning, Alibaba dashed out a letter to USTR claiming that it has delisted 380 million products and closed about 180,000 stores on its Taobao platform during last 12 months.

It must be noted that the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) had suspended Alibaba's membership in May over piracy concerns.

As per reports, some highly placed officials working in Alibaba suspected that Taobao's blacklisting decision may be influenced by Trump's anti-Chinese stance. The US president-elect has been unleashing barrage of salvos against China right from his election campaigning days.

The outspoken Trump had described China as a "currency manipulator" and "job thief." He even claimed during one of the rallies that China would behave under his presidency.     

TagsAlibaba Counterfeit List, U.S Backlist, Taobao.com, Alibaba, Alibaba’s Taobao.com