Trump’s curiously good fortune in China
Remarkable timing of Ivanka’s trademark approvals, father’s vow to rescue ZTE, raises familiar questions
BEIJING— China this month awarded Ivanka Trump seven new trademarks across a broad collection of businesses, including books, housewares and cushions.
At around the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to find a way to prevent a major Chinese telecommunications company from going bust, even though the company has a history of violating U.S. limits on doing business with countries such as Iran and North Korea. Coincidence? Well, probably. Still, the remarkable timing is raising familiar questions about the Trump family’s businesses and its patriarch’s status as commander in chief. Even as Trump contends with Beijing on issues such as security and trade, his family and the company that bears his name are trying to make money off their brand in China’s flush and potentially promising market.
The most recent slew of trademarks appear to have been granted along the same timeline as Ivanka Trump’s previous requests, experts said. But more broadly, they said, Ivanka Trump’s growing portfolio of trademarks in China and the family’s business interests there raises questions about whether Chinese officials are giving the Trump family extra consideration that they other- wise might not get.
These critics say the foreign governments that do business with Ivanka Trump know they are dealing with the president’s daughter — a person who also works in the White House.
“Some countries will no doubt see this as a way to curry favour with President Trump,” wrote Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, and Norman Eisen, chairperson of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, two nonprofit watchdog groups.
Eisen’s group reported on the trademarks Saturday.
“Other countries may see the business requests made by his daughter’s company as requests they cannot refuse.”
Ivanka Trump’s representatives have said that there is nothing improper about her trademarks and that they prevent individuals from profiting off her name.
Abigail Klem, her brand’s president, said previously that the brand’s protection of trademarks is “in the normal course of business,” especially in countries where trademark infringement is rampant.
Trump’s representatives were not immediately available for comment Monday, a U.S. holiday.
Chinese trademark officials didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.
Donald Trump said in a surprise announcement May 13 that he was working with China’s president, Xi Jinping, to save jobs at the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE. The company was left paralyzed after U.S. officials forbade U.S. companies from selling their chips, software and other goods to ZTE for violating trade controls.
Trump’s announcement was widely seen as a potential peace offering to Beijing as the United States and China threatened each other with tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of trade.