The approvals came at a period of heightened trade tensions between the US and China. They are trying to avert an outright trade war after imposing tariffs on each others' goods in recent months.<doc-sep>Ivanka Trump’s fashion and homewares business received initial approval from the Chinese government for five trademark applications days before her father announced a U-turn in policy on ZTE, a Chinese telecoms firm that has admitted breaking US sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Chinese trademark documents detailing the approvals were made public by Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (Crew), a watchdog group. The group said the first daughter and White House adviser, who represents the US at diplomatic events, already held more than a dozen trademarks in China and multiple pending applications. Donald Trump holds more than 100 trademarks in China. The five approvals, for applications made in 2017, came through on 7 May. On 13 May, Trump made the surprise announcement that he had instructed the Department of Commerce to help get ZTE “back into business”. In April, the US government accused ZTE of misleading regulators after it settled charges of violating sanctions against North Korea and Iran. Its punishment was to be banned from US suppliers for seven years. The latest registration approvals won by Ivanka Trump Marks LLC include business trademark rights on goods including bathmats, textiles and baby blankets. While Ivanka Trump has stepped back from running the company while serving as an adviser to her father, she continues to profit from the business. In the last three months, with what experts say is unusual speed, China has granted final approval for 13 trademarks and provisional approval for eight more. According to the New York Times, Ivanka Trump now holds 34 trademarks in the world’s second-largest economy. While she does not have a large business in China, most of her US imports are shipped from there. Clothing has been exempted from tariffs threatened by her father as part of his aggressive trade policy. Crew executive director Noah Bookbinder told the Associated Press the timing of the announcement “raises significant questions about corruption, as it invites the possibility that [Ivanka Trump] 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”. In an open letter, Crew chair and former White House ethics chief Norm Eisen and Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a nonprofit that advocates for campaign finance reform, wrote that Donald Trump’s children, Ivanka, Donald Jr and Eric, and son-in-law Jared Kushner “engage in business activities and trade on their relationship with the president to pursue business deals and accumulate wealth”. Some countries, they said, “will no doubt see this as a way to curry favor with President Trump”. Trump initiated a trade dispute with China earlier this year, imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and later demanding that China boost imports by $200bn. In retaliation, China said it would target imports of US soybean and pork products. Amidst negotiations, the “trade war” was recently placed “on hold”, in the words of treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. By far the most politically contentious aspect of the dispute involves ZTE. The telecom giant is dependent on imports of US-made chips and was facing bankruptcy. In what was widely viewed as a peace offering to Beijing, Trump lifted the US ban, so long as ZTE committed to buying US parts and paid a $1.3bn fine. The move was widely opposed in the US. On Sunday, the Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio warned that Congress would move to block the deal. “None of these companies should be operating in this country,” Rubio told Face the Nation on CBS, also naming the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei. “None of them.” Trump has defended his move, tweeting earlier this month that it was “reflective of the larger trade deal we are negotiating with China and my personal relationship with President Xi [Jinping]”. Representatives for Ivanka Trump did not immediately answer media requests for comment.<doc-sep>On Friday, the Trump administration reportedly told Congress it had reached a deal with the Chinese government to lift a ban preventing ZTE from buying American goods if it paid a penalty for violating American sanctions on North Korea and Iran. The Chinese government awarded Ivanka Trump's fashion brand seven new trademarks, according to online records, just as President Donald Trump pledged to revive Chinese telecom giant ZTE. The trademarks, for items such as baby blankets, bamboo crafts and coffins, include products that the brand sells as well as items that it seeks to prevent others from selling with Trump branding. Chinese trademarks issued to Ivanka Trump's fashion brand in May are raising questions over whether the first daughter is receiving special treatment from a foreign government or is simply the victim of bad timing. Critics say the timing of the approval raises questions about potential ethical violations. "As a White House adviser, Ivanka has represented the United States at multiple diplomatic events despite the potential conflicts her business interests present," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit good governance organization, wrote in its report on the trademarks. Critics have also seized on the announcement, also in May, that a Chinese company will be building a theme park in Indonesia featuring Trump-branded properties such as a hotel and 18-hole golf course. The president's daughter, who was hired as a White House advisor shortly after the president took office, continues to receive profits from her brand despite stepping down from her leadership role in the organization, according to CREW. She does not receive a government salary. Watchdogs have criticized President Trump for bringing his family into the administration, as well as their decision not to completely disentangle from their sprawling businesses. "Trump and his family are in the unique position to profit directly from his public service," according OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan watchdog that tracks money in politics. The president has denied that there are any conflicts of interest. An Office of Legal Counsel memo last year, issued in response to questions about Ivanka Trump's husband and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, said the White House is exempt from anti-nepotism laws. Experts have said the trademarks may have been expedited because of Trump's popularity in the country, though it is not clear that the pace of approval is unusual. The applications for the trademarks were made more than a year ago, in early 2017, according to online records. Trump joined the White House a day after the applications were filed, though it had already been reported that she would move into a West Wing office. In a statement, Abigail Klem, the president of the Ivanka Trump brand, said the trademarks were filed in the "normal course of business." "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," she said. "We have recently seen a surge in trademark filings by unrelated third parties trying to capitalize on the name and it is our responsibility to diligently protect our trademark." It is not the first time that Ivanka Trump's clothing line has raised concerns among critics. Last summer, the Associated Press reported that Trump received three trademarks on the same day that she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, the president's Florida resort. Trump's brand has also faced criticism over its overseas manufacturing. The vast majority of Ivanka-branded clothing shipped to the U.S. since election day has been made in Asia, according to a NBC News analysis. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.<doc-sep>Ivanka Trump’s business recently secured five more valuable trademarks from China (with a sixth given trial approval), allowing her to expand her business there to the tune of millions of dollars in profits. The timing of the approval suspiciously overlaps with President Trump’s own dealings with China. The new trademarks were approved on May 7, just days before Trump promised on Twitter to help save the Chinese phone company ZTE. ZTE had previously been banned from buying American technology because it violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea. On Friday, Trump announced that ZTE would be allowed to continue business after paying a $1.3 billion fine, a deal that both Democrats and Republicans in Congress oppose. In fact, more than 60 House Democrats are now calling for an ethics investigation into Trump’s ties to China. Ivanka’s trademarks are not the only way the Trump family seems to have conspicuously benefited from Trump’s support for one of China’s biggest telecom companies. In the days before that public promise, China also loaned $500 million to an Indonesian theme park that will include a Trump-branded golf course and hotels. The Trump administration could not explain the apparent conflict of interest of the Trump organization benefiting from Trump’s actions as president. It is also noteworthy that this isn’t the first time that Ivanka’s business has been approved for Chinese trademarks under suspicious circumstances. Last year, three such trademarks were approved within hours of Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. Following that meeting, Trump also reneged on his campaign promise to label China a “currency manipulator” and instead praised the country’s leader. Advertisement The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has lambasted the administration for these clear conflicts of interest, noting that Ivanka often represents the U.S. at diplomatic events, even as she continues to profit from the business bearing her name.<doc-sep>
Ivanka Trump this month received trademark approval from China for a broad array of items, including baby blankets, wallpaper and carpets. That wouldn't be unusual for a global business built on consumer goods such as elegant women's clothing and shoes, but it raises numerous ethical issues given that her father is the U.S. president. The timing appears especially fraught given President Donald Trump agreed to rescue Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp. shortly after Ivanka Trump's brand was awarded the trademarks. Ethics watchdogs say the approvals are problematic on a number of levels, including Ivanka Trump's role representing the U.S. at diplomatic events even though her brand's business could be impacted -- for good or bad -- by relations with foreign nations. Then there's also the conflicts that arise from her father's role as president amid rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China. "Although Ivanka has stepped down from her role at her business and has placed it in a trust, she continues to receive profits from the business," the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote in a blog post about the trademarks. It added, "Last year, Ivanka's business won preliminary approval for three trademarks on the same day that she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. Earlier this year, Trump announced tariffs against China that exempted clothing — including clothing imports from Ivanka's Chinese manufacturers." Some foreign governments may see Ivanka Trump's business as a "way to curry favor with President Trump," wrote Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, and Norman Eisen, chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, at Yahoo News. "When foreign governments do business with Ivanka Trump, they know that they are dealing with the favored daughter of the U.S. president who also works in her father's White House," they noted. To be sure, Ivanka Trump's brand has dozens of trademarks both in and outside the U.S. While the timing may look odd given President Trump's remarks about ZTE, the brand applied for the trademarks well before the current heated trade dispute. Below are 4 things to know about Ivanka Trump's brand and the new trademarks. What type of Ivanka Trump items received trademarks from China? The new Chinese trademarks are for a range of household and consumer products, including baby blankets, towels, curtains, picture frames, furniture and rugs. Why does Ivanka Trump's brand say it needs the trademarks? Abigail Klem, the president of Ivanka Trump, said in a statement that the trademarks were needed to fend off copycat products "in regions where trademark infringement is rampant." She added, "We have recently seen a surge in trademark filings by unrelated third parties trying to capitalize on the name and it is our responsibility to diligently protect our trademark. " So what exactly does the Ivanka Trump brand sell? The brand is primarily known for women's clothing and shoes, rather than the household items that the company received trademarks for in China. In the U.S., her products include $300 handbags and costume jewelry. When did the Ivanka Trump brand apply for the trademarks? The trademarks were applied for in March 2017, according to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Officials in China typically take about 18 months to approve trademarks, which make the approvals "very fast," East & Concord Partners intellectual property division expert Charles Feng told The New York Times.