As anticipated in May, rising trade tensions between the U.S.
and China have led to a series of escalating measures including
tariffs and trade investigations. In July 2019 testimony to the
Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray noted
that more than 1,000 active investigations on intellectual property
theft "lead[] back to China." Against the backdrop of
these issues, the Department of Justice announced the "China
Initiative" on November 1, 2018. The DOJ explained that the
Initiative was launched against the background of prior findings by
the Administration regarding China's trade practices. One of
the China Initiative's key goals is to "[i]dentify
priority trade secret cases, ensure that investigations are
adequately resourced; and work to bring them to fruition in a
timely manner and according to the facts and applicable
law."
