WASHINGTON (May 1, 2026) – Today, the Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP) applauded the release of the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) 2026 Special 301 Report, highlighting the importance of strong and enforceable intellectual property (IP) protections to sustaining America’s global innovation leadership.
The annual report identifies countries that fail to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or that deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. innovators. C4IP, in its public comment and post-hearing remarks to USTR earlier this year, emphasized the need for the 2026 report to underscore the growing risks of foreign policies that weaken IP protections and distort competitive markets.
C4IP welcomed the report’s new language emphasizing the value of innovation and intellectual property, including the need to address market access barriers in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors, in addition to the inclusion of a section on “Intellectual Property and Standards,” which highlights emerging threats to the licensing of patents covering technology that contributes to industry-wide standards.
Notable developments in this year’s report include:
- The addition of the European Union to the Watch List
- China’s continued inclusion on the Priority Watch List
- USMCA trading partners’ Canada and Mexico’s inclusion on the Watch List
- Brazil’s continued inclusion on the Watch List
- India’s continued inclusion on the Priority Watch List
- Argentina’s move from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List
As the 2026 Special 301 Report makes clear, many countries continue to pose challenges to the United States due to inadequate intellectual property enforcement. If left unaddressed, these shortcomings could weaken incentives for research and development and allow foreign competitors to benefit from American innovation without bearing the same risks and costs.
The report’s findings on the European Union, in particular, should help inform the United States’ broader trade agenda with the bloc. With greater clarity around the IP-related challenges in the EU, USTR now has an opportunity to leverage these findings in discussions with the EU to resolve these concerns and strengthen transatlantic innovation ties.
“The stakes are high. As global competition intensifies, the United States must continue to lead in defending strong intellectual property standards — because weakening IP protections anywhere in the world ultimately harms innovation everywhere, jeopardizing breakthroughs in all sectors from film to biotechnology,” said Frank Cullen, executive director of C4IP. “We look forward to working with USTR and policymakers to ensure that American innovators can compete and succeed in domestic markets and around the world.”
C4IP thanks the USTR for its work on this critical report and its commitment to protecting the intellectual property rights that power innovation and American global competitiveness.
About the Council for Innovation Promotion: The Council for Innovation Promotion is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.