FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Ivanka Trump's company continues... (Associated Press) 
 
 SHANGHAI (AP) — On April 6, Ivanka Trump's company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the world's second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago. 
 
 The scenario underscores how difficult it is for the president's daughter, who has tried to distance herself from the brand that bears her name, to separate business from politics in her new position at the White House. 
 
 As she crafts a political career from her West Wing office, her brand is flourishing, despite boycotts and several stores limiting her merchandise. U.S. imports, almost all of them from China, shot up an estimated 166 percent last year, while sales hit record levels in 2017. The brand, which Ivanka Trump still owns, says distribution is growing. 
 
 It has launched new activewear and affordable jewelry lines and is working to expand its global intellectual property footprint. In addition to winning the approvals from China, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. after the election. 
 
 The commercial currents of the Trump White House are unprecedented in modern American politics, ethics lawyers say. They have created an unfamiliar landscape riven with ethical pitfalls, and forced consumers and retailers to wrestle with the unlikely passions now inspired by Ivanka Trump's mid-market collection of ruffled blouses, shifts and wedges. 
 
 Using the prestige of government service to build a brand is not illegal. But criminal conflict-of-interest law prohibits federal officials, like Ivanka Trump and her husband, from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest or that of their spouses. Some argue that the more her business broadens its scope, the more it threatens to encroach on the ability of two trusted advisers to deliver credible counsel to the president on core issues like trade, intellectual property and the value of Chinese currency. 
 
 "Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while you're in government," advises Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. 
 
 To address ethical concerns, Ivanka Trump has shifted the brand's assets to a family-run trust valued at more than $50 million and pledged to recuse herself from issues that present conflicts. She is also no longer running her design business and has given day-to-day responsibility to Abigail Klem, president of the brand. Meanwhile, her husband has taken steps to distance himself from his sprawling New York real estate business, divesting some of his business interests including his stake in a major Fifth Avenue skyscraper. 
 
 "Ivanka will not weigh in on business strategy, marketing issues or the commercial terms of agreements," her attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said in a statement. "She has retained authority to direct the trustees to terminate agreements that she determines create a conflict of interest or the appearance of one." 
 
 In a recent interview with CBS News, Trump argued that her business would be doing even better if she hadn't moved to Washington and placed restrictions on her team to ensure that "any growth is done with extreme caution." 
 
 China, however, remains a nagging concern. 
 
 "Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it," said Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. "For their own sake, and the country's, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters." 
 
 Instead, the first daughter and her husband have emerged as prominent interlocutors with China, where they have both had significant business ties. Last year, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments from Anbang Insurance Group, a financial conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese state. After media reports about the deal, talks were called off. 
 
 Publicly, Ivanka Trump has taken a gracious, charming approach toward Beijing. During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, her daughter, 5-year-old Arabella, stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, for China's president, Xi Jinping. The video, which was lavishly praised by Chinese state media, played over 2.2 million times on China's popular news portal qq.com. 
 
 The week of the summit, 3.4 tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records. 
 
 Painter, the former Bush administration lawyer, recommended full recusal from issues related to trade with China. That is likely to be difficult because trade is so deeply embedded in the US-China relationship and has been linked with other matters, like North Korea. 
 
 "The danger is that with any discussion with the Chinese, one party or the other may try to bring up trade," he said. "That's a slippery slope that may require her or Jared to step out of the room." 
 
 Gorelick, Ivanka Trump's attorney, said that she and her husband would steer clear of specific areas that could impact her business, or be seen as conflicts of interest, but are under no legal obligation to step back from huge swaths of policy, like trade with China. 
 
 Under the rules, Trump would recuse herself from conversations about duties on clothing imported from China, Gorelick said, but not broad foreign policy. 
 
 "In between, you have to assess it case-by-case," she said. 
 
 Trademarks can be signs of corporate ambition, though many countries — such as China, where "trademark squatting" is rampant — also allow for defensive filings to prevent copycats from using a brand. 
 
 Trademarks pose ethical, and possibly legal, implications for government employees because they are granted by foreign states and confer the monopoly right to sell branded products in a particular country — an entitlement that can be enormously valuable. Intellectual property lawyers say trademarks are also a crucial prerequisite for cutting licensing deals, which form the basis of both Ivanka and Donald Trump's global business strategy. 
 
 "The brand has filed, updated, and rigorously protected its international trademarks over the past several years in the normal course of business, especially in regions where trademark infringement is rampant," said Klem in a statement. 
 
 Today, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has 16 registered trademarks in China and 32 pending applications, along with a total of four marks granted preliminary approval since the inauguration, according to China's Trademark Office. Altogether, they cover a wide range of goods and services, including cosmetics, jewelry, leather handbags, luggage, clothes, shoes, retail, spa and beauty services. There is no sign the recent approvals were particularly swift. China's Trademark Office did not respond to a request for comment. 
 
 Globally, the company has more than 180 pending and registered trademarks in countries including Canada, India, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. and Europe, public records show. In December, the company applied for five trademarks, covering handbags and wallets in Puerto Rico, and lingerie and other clothes in the U.S. After the inauguration, the company filed four more applications, for branded clothing and shoes in the Philippines, and perfume and other items in Canada. 
 
 Ivanka Trump did not sign off on the new trademark applications, her brand said in a statement, adding that they are "not necessarily an indication that the brand is planning to launch a category or a store in a specific territory." 
 
 Whatever the future plans, right now sales are growing — helped, some argue, by the glow of Ivanka Trump's political rise. 
 
 The G-III Apparel Group Ltd., which makes Ivanka Trump clothes, said net sales for the collection increased by $17.9 million during the year that ended Jan. 31. 
 
 The overall brand itself says revenues rose 21 percent last year, with early February seeing some of the "best performance ever," according to a statement by Klem. Because it is privately held, the brand does not have to declare its earnings or where revenues come from. The actual corporate structure of Trump's retail business remains opaque. Kushner's financial disclosure form lists two dozen corporate entities that appear directly related to his wife's brand. Trump herself has yet to file a disclosure. 
 
 Data from Lyst, a massive fashion e-commerce platform, indicates some of this growth coincided with specific political events. 
 
 The number of Ivanka Trump items sold through Lyst was 46 percent higher the month her father was elected president than in November 2015. Sales spiked 771 percent in February over the same month last year, after White House counselor Kellyanne Conway exhorted Fox viewers to "Go buy Ivanka's stuff." Conway was later reprimanded. The bounce appears somewhat sustained. March sales on Lyst were up 262 percent over the same period last year. 
 
 "You can't separate Ivanka from her role in life and from her business," said Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimpleConsulting. "Her celebrity status is now not only being fueled by her wealth and her family connection, but by her huge role in the White House. All that buzz is hardwired to her products." That, he added, is a competitive advantage other brands just can't match — though it does come with risk. 
 
 Things could easily cut the other way for the first daughter. Ashley King, 28 of Calabasas, California, bought Ivanka Trump black flats and a cardigan several years ago. But King, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said she believes Trump's role in the White House represents a conflict of interest. 
 
 "This is bothering me more and more," she said. As for the Ivanka Trump items in her closet, she said, "I will be donating them." 
 
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 Online: 
 
 Daily change in Ivanka Trump's orders on Lyst - https://w.graphiq.com/w/4VDhSHfGfQh 
 
 Monthly change in Ivanka Trump's orders on Lsyt - https://w.graphiq.com/w/in9MnNw1FAN 
 
 The Ivanka Trump Collection Quarterly US Imports - https://w.graphiq.com/w/fCOZGxSvnTL 
 
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 AP reporter Catherine Lucey in Washington, researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai, and reporters Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Teresa Cerojano in Manila and Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo contributed to this report. 
 
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 Nordstrom Inc. will stop selling the controversial Ivanka Trump brand this season, a move that follows boycott threats and concerns about the first daughter’s conflicts of interest. 
 
 The department-store chain made the decision based on sales, according to a statement from the Seattle-based company. It offers thousands of brands and cuts about 10 percent each year based on how well they perform, Nordstrom said. 
 
 “In this case, based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season,” the company said. 
 
 The department store ordered Ivanka Trump shoes and apparel for the spring season, then only followed through in purchasing apparel, a representative for the brand said late Friday afternoon. Calls and an e-mail to a Nordstrom representative seeking comment weren’t immediately returned. 
 
 Nordstrom has come under fire from the Grab Your Wallet campaign, a critic of the administration that is asking shoppers to boycott retailers that carry Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump goods. Ivanka’s business also has drawn criticism for blurring the lines between brand promotion and politics. Her company sent a “style alert” to journalists in November promoting a gold bracelet that she wore during an interview on CBS Corp.’s “60 Minutes.” 
 
 The Racked fashion website reported earlier Thursday that the products had begun disappearing from Nordstrom’s e-commerce selection. And the Grab Your Wallet campaign declared victory for helping prompt the move. 
 
 “I am absolutely thrilled, and I know the vast majority of Grab Your Wallet participants will be as well,” said Shannon Coulter, a co-founder of Grab Your Wallet. 
 
 Early Partner 
 
 Despite the Nordstrom setback, Ivanka Trump’s brand continues to push into new categories: It recently added baby bedding and fashion jewelry. The company has seen year-over-year sales growth from 2015 to 2016, Rosemary Young, senior director of marketing at the brand, said in an e-mailed statement. 
 
 “The Ivanka Trump brand continues to expand across categories and distribution with increased customer support, leading us to experience significant year-over-year revenue growth in 2016,” Young said. “The strength of a brand is measured not only by the profits it generates, but the integrity it maintains.” 
 
 Nordstrom was one of the first retail partnerships for Ivanka Trump’s footwear after it was launched in 2011. Marc Fisher Footwear, a closely held shoe company, is the licensee for the products. 
 
 Co-President Pete Nordstrom addressed the controversy surrounding the partnership in a November e-mail to employees, according to Fortune. He said the company had heard from customers threatening to boycott the chain if they continued or discontinued its relationship with Trump. 
 
 “This is a sharply divisive subject,” he said. “No matter what we do, we are going to end up disappointing some of our customers. Every single brand we offer is evaluated on their results -- if people don’t buy it, we won’t sell it.” 
 
 Merchandise Selection 
 
 Merchandise selection has become even more critical for department-store chains such as Nordstrom as the industry struggles with dwindling mall traffic and consumers’ defection to online shopping. The company, which has posted declining same-store sales in two of the past three quarters, has seen its shares fall 13 percent in the past year. The stock gained 0.9 percent to $43.90 at the close Friday in New York. 
 
 In November, the company posted a response on Twitter to a shopper’s open letter calling for Nordstrom to stop selling the Ivanka Trump brand. 
 
 “We hope that offering a vendor’s products isn’t misunderstood as us taking a political position; we’re not,” the company said at the time. “We recognize our customers can make choices about what they purchase based on personal views and we’ll continue to give them options.” ||||| President Trump went to war Wednesday with Nordstrom, the department store, over its decision to stop carrying his daughter Ivanka’s line of branded apparel. And it appears Nordstrom won, with the company’s stock up almost 5 percent on the day. 
 
 In today's battle of Trump vs @Nordstrom, Nordstrom is the overwhelming winner: shares up nearly 5% at the closing bell pic.twitter.com/hne3FFpv8j — Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) February 8, 2017 
 
 The saga began way back on February 2, when a spokesperson for Nordstrom rather blandly confirmed to Racked that Ivanka’s clothing was disappearing from stores: “Based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.�? 
 
 The president ignored this issue for almost an entire week. Then Wednesday morning, according to the White House’s official schedule, he received his daily intelligence briefing at 10:30 am. There clearly wasn’t much urgent national security business to transact, because by 10:51 am he was focused on the threat to his daughter’s brand licensing business. 
 
 My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017 
 
 Shortly thereafter, your hard-earned tax dollars went to work pursuing the first family’s vendetta against a retailer that scorned them, with the staff-run @POTUS account retweeting the president and White House press secretary Sean Spicer continuing the charge at the daily press briefing. 
 
 Nordstrom’s move, according to Spicer, was not a business decision based on the sales of Ivanka’s line at all. It was, rather, a “direct attack�? on Trump administration policy in a manner that is “not acceptable.�? 
 
 Sean Spicer on Nordstrom re: POTUS and Ivanka: "This is a direct attack on his policies and her name." — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 8, 2017 
 
 Trump has previously depressed the stock prices of private companies by tweeting negative things about them in a manner that perhaps suggested forthcoming retaliation on the part of the federal government. But most companies have found their share prices bouncing back rapidly. In Nordstrom’s case, the dip lasted less than an hour, and over the course of the day, shares surged. 
 
 That may be a total coincidence, or it may be that investors are anticipating a surge of new sales at the retailer thanks to the massive amount of free publicity Trump garnered for their store, or the way that doing battle with an unpopular president could boost its profile in the large metropolitan areas where most of its stores are located. 
 
 In a possibly related development, T.J. Maxx also announced today that it is dropping Ivanka’s line, but no presidential tweets on this yet.
– The Ivanka Trump collection is shuttering. The First Daughter had already formally separated herself from her namesake fashion line when she started to work as one of President Trump's senior advisers, but has now decided to close IT Collection LLC entirely. "After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners," Trump said in a statement, per the AP. Both the AP and the Wall Street Journal report that Trump had grown increasingly frustrated by ethics restrictions placed on the company to avoid possible conflicts of interest while she worked in the White House; she reportedly felt the restrictions were hindering the company's ability to grow. While apparel sales at the brand were way up during the 2016 election year, it has since become fraught with controversy and hit with boycotts by those who oppose President Trump. Nordstrom and other retailers have stopped selling it, citing declining sales as the reason, and still other stores have scaled back Ivanka Trump displays. Despite the efforts of Ivanka Trump, who retained her ownership interest in the company through a trust, it was challenging to keep the brand separate from her father's administration; President Trump tweeted, for example, that Nordstrom had treated Ivanka "so unfairly," and Kellyanne Conway came under fire for suggesting people "go buy Ivanka's stuff" during an interview at the White House. And the company had been criticized for using Chinese workers abroad to make its products, as well as for being granted trademarks by foreign governments that would want to be on President Trump's good side.