On the surface, counterfeit goods pose a minor nuisance — a cheap bag made of fake leather that falls apart, or a phone charger that only works for a week. But these products, often sold at bargain-basement prices, create a tangible risk for countless Americans every day. While e-commerce has changed the way we shop, it has opened the floodgates for deceptive goods that threaten consumer health and safety — not to mention serious economic damage for American businesses.
The White House recently issued an executive order promising to crack down on international counterfeiting and intellectual property theft. For this commitment to be effective, it is crucial that law enforcement have access to the tools needed to stop these illegal shipments from ever reaching our country in the first place.
Unfortunately, a law designed to stop dangerous material sent through the mail, including counterfeit goods, remains unenforced over one year since President Trump signed it into law.
Congress passed the Synthetics and Trafficking Overdose Prevention or STOP Act with overwhelming bipartisan support, and Trump signed it into law in October 2018. If properly enforced, the law would close a security gap frequently abused by counterfeit goods traffickers. It requires packages sent internationally to the U.S. through the postal system to include advance electronic data, used to screen international packages for illegal opioids, potential terrorist risks, and other dangerous material, as has already been required for packages sent through private carriers for nearly two decades.
At a recent White House press briefing, senior counselor Kellyanne Conway spoke of how this discrepancy creates a security loophole, saying, “our third-party carriers have been [providing security data] for a long time — your UPS, your FedEx, for example. And so, now, our own U.S. Postal Service needs to get on board with that.” And a recent report from the United States Senate Finance Committee specifically highlighted the importance of enforcing the STOP Act to address counterfeits, noting that the data it requires is “useful to target and prevent counterfeit goods.”
Yet although the STOP Act set strict timelines for implementing new standards, more than a year since its passage federal agencies continue to miss its key deadlines. While the U.S. Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection were required to have advance data on all packages from China and on 70% of international packages overall by December 2018, they have repeatedly fallen short. Meanwhile, critical reports to Congress on compliance and progress are not public. In the White House briefing, Conway cited numbers ranging from 35% to 38% compliance — nowhere near what is required nor what is needed to keep the country secure.
That is more serious than a bureaucratic delay. Because of low manufacturing standards or sub-par materials, knock-off products ranging from toys to pharmaceuticals are “putting the health and safety of consumers at direct and significant risk,” according to the Senate Finance Committee. And a report from the U.S. Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimated counterfeit and pirated goods cost the U.S. economy between $29 and $41 billion per year, with over 60% of these products traveling through the postal service. Those revenues should be going to American businesses and supporting American jobs and innovations, not lining the pockets of criminals.
Consider the New Jersey mother whose garment designs were copied by Chinese counterfeiters who had the gall to use her own daughter’s photos in their advertisements. Or the Virginia inventors who appeared on Shark Tank but were bombarded by negative reviews from consumers who unwittingly bought foreign knock-offs of their car-cleaning innovation. Or the music teacher who patented a device that helps students hold their violin bow properly but then saw foreign counterfeiters steal the idea to profit themselves.
With countless stories like these, it’s unacceptable that fully enforcing the STOP Act is anything but a top priority.
Unless the law is followed, the postal loophole will remain a glaring vulnerability exploited by counterfeiters, drug traffickers fueling the opioid crisis, and other bad actors. The administration’s new executive order is a promising step, but it must be accompanied by accountability from our federal agencies, and from responsible oversight from Congress to ensure laws like the STOP Act are not only signed into law but properly implemented so they can be effective.
Juliette Kayyem, the Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard Kennedy School, served as assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She is a senior adviser to Americans for Securing All Packages, a coalition focused on closing the postal security loophole.
