Thirteen Countries on U.S. Priority Watch list

The United States Trade Representatives have prepared a list of thirteen countries which fall under the watch list for lax rules pertaining to copyrights, trade secrets, and other intellectual property rights violations.

China and India have also hit the list, while China takes priority due to the elevation in the number of online piracy, and raising theft of trade secrets as well as rules aimed at fostering the local technology industry at the expense of foreign suppliers.

Robert Holleyman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative said, "We felt it was critical to call this out".

The United States has welcomed the suspension of rules forcing Chinese banks to buy local technology products and asking foreign firms to hand over source code.

But U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said this week the United States would take up issues like "buy local" laws and technology transfer as part of an investment treaty between the two countries.

The bilateral investment treaty, which is under negotiation, should also cover unfair competition by state-owned firms and discriminatory enforcement of China's competition law, he said.

However, India has been identified as a country for considerable improvements in addressing intellectual property concerns.

Thirteen countries are on the priority watch list for 2015, including Russia and Ukraine, and another twenty four are on a lower level watch list.