Since 2006,[1] the members of the International Intellectual Property Alliance in conjunction with the Office of the United States Trade Representative has annually filed a list of Notorious Markets[2] as a part of their Special 301 Report to the U.S. federal government.
It lists virtual markets (websites) and physical markets outside of the US where large scale copyright infringement takes place and recommends trade sanctions for countries with weak copyright protection enforcement.
Since 2010 the list is separately issued as a part of an out-of-cycle review between the main report submissions.
[3] Whilst the list of markets does not directly form national trade policy, the report says "The United States encourages the responsible authorities to step up efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets.
"[‡ 1] In January 2025, USTR annual report on notorious markets again listed the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the number one source of counterfeit products in the world," with 90 percent of U.S. Customs and Border Protection seizures of counterfeit or pirated products coming from the PRC or Hong Kong.