Ivanka's Retail Empire Grows Every Time Trump Grants China Another Concession

They can't send Kushner-in-law out to campaign for their candidates. His job approval is 18%-- almost as bad as Cocaine Mitch's 16% approval. So, as we saw on Sunday, the little-known Kevin McCarthy and Ivanka Trumpanzee are headed outside the Beltway, not to do rallies but to meet with fat cats and persuade them to waste their money on doomed Republican congressional candidates. Her approval rating is spectacular for a Republican-- 38% and only 41% disapprove. But that poll was taken before the Associated Press reported that China has given her 13 new trademarks in the last 3 months in return for sweet deals from Señor T. Conflicts of interest? Emoluments?

On Sunday, China granted the first daughter’s company final approval for its 13th trademark in the last three months, trademark office records show. Over the same period, the Chinese government has granted Ivanka Trump’s company provisional approval for another eight trademarks, which can be finalized if no objections are raised during a three-month comment period.

Taken together, the trademarks could allow her brand to market a lifetime’s worth of products in China, from baby blankets to coffins, and a host of things in between, including perfume, make-up, bowls, mirrors, furniture, books, coffee, chocolate and honey. Ivanka Trump stepped back from management of her brand and placed its assets in a family-run trust, but she continues to profit from the business.

“Ivanka Trump’s refusal to divest from her business is especially troubling as the Ivanka brand continues to expand its business in foreign countries,” Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in an email Monday. “It raises significant questions about corruption, as it invites the possibility that she could be benefiting financially from her position and her father’s presidency or that she could be influenced in her policy work by countries’ treatment of her business.”

As Ivanka Trump and her father have built their global brands, largely through licensing deals, they have pursued trademarks in dozens of countries. Those global trademarks have drawn the attention of ethics lawyers because they are granted by foreign governments and can confer enormous value. Concerns about political influence have been especially sharp in China, where the courts and bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party.

Chinese officials have emphasized that all trademark applications are handled in accordance with the law.

More approvals are likely to come. Online records from China’s trademark office indicate that Ivanka Trump’s company last applied for trademarks-- 17 of them-- on March 28, 2017, the day before she took on a formal role at the White House. Those records on Monday showed at least 25 Ivanka Trump trademarks pending review, 36 active marks and eight with provisional approval.

The World Intellectual Property Organization’s global brand database also shows that her company, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, won three trademarks in the Philippines after her father took office. Two of them that cover clothing, including lingerie and baby clothes, were filed on Feb. 8, 2017 and registered in June and November. The third, filed on March 1, 2017, covers clothing and footwear and was registered in July.

Companies register for trademarks for a variety of reasons. They can be a sign of corporate ambition, but in many countries, like China, where trademark squatting is rampant, companies also file defensively, to block copycats from grabbing legal rights to a brand’s name. Trademarks are classified by category and may include items that a company does not intend to market. Some trademark lawyers also advise clients to register trademarks for merchandise that is manufactured in China, even if it’s not sold there.

Ivanka Trump does not have a large retail presence in China, but customs records show that the bulk of her company’s U.S. imports are shipped from China.

On June 18 Ivanka will be in Fresno and Los Angeles fundraising for Kevin McCarthy's and Mike Pence's SuperPAC, Protect the House. I hope demonstrators will be sure to include protests about the bribery her family is taking from every government willing to pay them off in return for another piece of the American pie.

A week ago Jim VandeHei asserted that China is working-- for the long term-- to "displace the United States as the dominant global economic and national security superpower... pouring time, money, infrastructure and trade into every continent, after promising to fill the global void created by Trump’s America First... The plan is to dominate all futuristic advanced technologies such as robotics, AI, aviation and space, driverless or new energy vehicles. In other words, to dominate the world by crushing the United States, Germany and all others in most important industries of the future." 

• China also has the authoritarian ability to experiment at scale, steal our tech secrets and mobilize capital that no democracy can match.
• China often forces U.S. companies to create joint ventures to do business there. American business do just that, handing half their company to often-state-controlled Chinese partners.
• China is spending nearly 9% of GDP on infrastructure-- three times what America spends.
• China has so much capacity to build that it's exporting its materials and labor to other countries to build their infrastructure.
• China is building the largest global infrastructure project in history, the Belt and Road Initiative, as antiquated U.S. airports, bridges, roads and electricity systems crumble.
• China is growing 3x as fast as the U.S. economy. At current projections, China's GDP will be larger than America's by 2028.

The U.S. could not have a worse president to deal with this than the one we have now. VanderHei was back a few days ago, with Mike Allen, to emphasize that politicians on both sides of the aisle are alarmed, even as Trump and his family are selling out the country. They use 3 examples, Tim Ryan, a Democrat, Marco Rubio, a Republican and Steve Bannon, an insane fascist:

• Ryan, a Democrat who represents the classic Rust Belt town of Youngstown, Ohio: "I’m getting more and more worried every day ... China has a grand strategy that includes all of government-- economy, military, education and politics-- with the goal of elevating China to the number one military and economic power in the world."
• Rubio, Republican of Florida: "The Chinese know our pressure points... Americans benefit every day from the fact that America is the most powerful nation on earth. If that's erased, this won't be the same country. If economic and military power move to China, an authoritarian state, that affects things we take for granted like free speech, equal opportunity and human rights."
• Bannon, President Trump's former chief strategist: "China has survived intact for 4,000 years because they have perfected 'barbarian management.' They view us as a 'tributary state,' a natural resource and agriculture provider-- Jamestown to their Great Britain... Trump must keep the hammer down."

"Both Ryan and Rubio," they continue, "say the issue is getting increasing resonance with constituents, but they remain frustrated with the lack of urgency among their colleagues, and the mixed signals from Trump... Experts say the U.S. is falling further behind, and that the nation needs a massive strategic and investment plan similar to the post-World War II mobilization that included the Marshall Plan, the G.I. Bill and the space race. While America dawdles and bickers, China is thinking long-term-- and acting now, everywhere". But at least Ivanka has the 13 trademarks for her garbage. And which country is bailing out Kushner's building in Manhattan again?