The American Apparel & Footwear Association called for immediate action to address the concerning volume and accessibility of dangerous counterfeits across major online platforms, including social media and social commerce platforms, in AAFA’s submission for the 2024 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (Notorious Markets List). The comments draw attention to the lack of proactive controls, little to no measures to address repeat infringers, and the growing problems across the digital devalue chain of counterfeits – including fraudulent websites and fraudulent advertisements.     

Based on member feedback, AAFA recommends the following platforms be included in the U.S. government’s 2024 Notorious Markets List:

  • AliExpress
  • DHgate 
  • Meta and all Meta platforms
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • WhatsApp
    • Threads
  • Shopee

As stated in the report, "Never has the counterfeit problem been at the scale it is today. ... As inaction on blocking counterfeits persists, we are seeing an explosion of problems across the 'Digital Devalue Chain of Counterfeits,’ with acute concerns related to deception with dupe influencers, fraudulent advertisements, hidden links, fraudulent websites, fake emails, and more."

In its comments, AAFA nominates AliExpress, owned by Alibaba Group Holding Limited [NYSE: BABA] and DHGATE GROUP, both headquartered in China. AAFA also nominates all Meta platforms for the fifth time in a row, calling on the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to list Meta and its associated platforms due to the proliferation of counterfeit products promoted and sold across all Meta platforms, despite all brands do to share information with the platform. AAFA also nominates Shopee Pte. Ltd. (Shopee or NYSE: SE; headquartered in Singapore) for the sixth time since 2018. This nomination is attributed to the growing volume of counterfeit products available to consumers through the Shopee platform, the lack of proactive measures in place to prohibit counterfeits, and the lack of progress by Shopee to address repeat infringers.

"AAFA and its members are fed up with the lack of accountability for platforms, regardless of where they are headquartered. The net result is an explosion in the promotion and sale of counterfeits across platforms. The risks are real. Given the lack of proactivity by platforms on the back end, consumers are presented with dangerous products and fraud on the front end," said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. "These are global issues. We are looking to USTR, via this process, to address the counterfeiting issue holistically and not in a siloed, country by country, approach." 

 AAFA’s submission details experiences from several AAFA member companies. For example, one AAFA member shared that, for two of its brands, the company found the number of counterfeits for 2024 is “almost three times higher when compared to 2023.” Another AAFA member shared that they spent over $1 million on anti-counterfeiting efforts over the last year.

The Notorious Markets report is managed by USTR to identify physical and online marketplaces that engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting at the expense of American companies. AAFA has found that the promotion and sale of counterfeits continues to grow exponentially on major e-commerce and social media platforms. 

AAFA further calls on the Biden Harris Administration to advocate for passage of the SHOP SAFE Act, legislation currently before Congress to require platforms to implement much-needed proactive measures to curb counterfeits.  Among other things, such legislation will create accountability so that counterfeits are blocked before they are marketed to U.S. households by online marketplaces.