Clothing body calls out Facebook, Instagram over fakes

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has asked the US federal government to include a swathe of online platforms in the 2025 edition of the Notorious Markets List (NML).

The NML, published by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), is an annually published list of physical and online marketplaces known for facilitating counterfeiting and piracy.

The AAFA has just submitted comments to the USTR seeking to add Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Shopee, and Alibaba's AliExpress and Taobao platforms to the 2025 edition. A perennial criticism of the document is that it focuses only on overseas marketplaces, so home-grown channels for fake goods, such as Meta's sites, fall outside its scope.

Industry groups and other stakeholders have submitted comments calling for US social media and online marketplaces to be included in the list, citing significant counterfeiting problems on these platforms, but there seems to be a reluctance to do so by the USTR for fear of implying there is weak intellectual property (IP) enforcement within the US. 

The deadline for comments was October 1, and the AAFA is one of 44 commentators, alongside some of the e-commerce companies, which point to their track record in trying to drive counterfeits off their platforms.

Trump tariffs aiding counterfeiters?

In its submission, the AAFA claims that its members are "particularly frustrated at how counterfeiters are the main winners in a tariff-induced trade war," saying that – because of their pricing – they can "show up seemingly as heroes by under-pricing authentic, responsibly sourced, but now more expensive goods."

On the scope of the report, AAFA says that USTR "must consider listing domestic platforms…to keep dangerous counterfeits off marketplaces and out of American homes." The five nominations received the highest votes in a poll of its 1,100-plus brandname membership.

That view was echoed in comments by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), which also pointed the finger at Meta's Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms, saying:

"We recognise that USTR has typically excluded US-based platforms from the Notorious Markets List; however, their userbase is worldwide, extending far beyond the borders of the US. Moreover, brand owners are continuing to report a high level of illicit activities across Meta’s platforms. Consequently, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have emerged as our highest-priority. We urge USTR to include Meta as a Notorious Market."

TRACIT also nominated eBay, Amazon's international stories, and TikTok Shop, among many other sites.

"Recognising these platforms as notorious markets simply reflects the reality that counterfeit fashion is widely available on some of America’s most visited online marketplaces and social media platforms," commented AAFA president and chief executive Steve Lamar.

"The Trump Administration has an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the insufficient steps these marketplaces take to block counterfeiters while raising awareness among American consumers about this hidden online danger."

AI arms race

The AAFA also highlighted another worrying trend identified in its survey, namely that counterfeiters are increasingly using artificial intelligence to peddle their knock-off products, and are embracing the technology faster than the online platforms themselves are harnessing the power of AI to block counterfeits.

"Red Points, a brand protection platform, found more than 4.3m counterfeit and “dupe infringements” in 2024," AAFA writes in its submission.

"The company concluded that AI is fuelling the ability of nefarious actors to steal IP and grow fraud schemes at an increasingly rapid rate," it added. "In fact, Red Points expects the creation of impersonation social media accounts and fake websites to grow 70 per cent in 2025."

Rebuttal comments to the nominations must be submitted to USTR by October 15, and the 2025 edition is expected to be published in January.

Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash