In an exposé published Tuesday, the AP reports that the Chinese government granted Ivanka Trump's company three valuable provisional trademarks the very same day she and her father and their families dined with the President of China, Xi Jinping, earlier this month at the Trump Florida estate and golf club, Mar-a-Lago. 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.
The trademarks give the nation with the second-largest economy monopoly rights to sell the embattled Ivanka-brand bags, spa services and jewelry, The Associated Press reported.
As Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping dined on Dover sole and NY strip steak earlier this month, thousands of miles away in China a government office quietly approved trademarks that could benefit the United States president's family.
"Trademarking is a totally standard process, which companies have to do to protect themselves against predatory filers who want to infringe on the brand", the spokesperson said in an email.
Her company has provisionally won four new trademarks from China since the inauguration, and applied for at least nine new trademarks around the world since the election.
When she first announced the ethics steps through Gorelick in The New York Times, it was reported that the Ivanka trust "prohibits her brand from reaching agreements with foreign governments or state-owned enterprises". US imports, nearly all of them from China, shot up an estimated 166 percent past year.
Ivanka has failed to fully divest from her eponymous company. It featured steak, fish, and included her father, President Trump.
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Last month, we posted about how Ivanka Trump's clothing line has been thriving of late.
"Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while you're in government", he said.
The trademarks are just the latest in a string of global trademarks the Trump family has secured since Donald Trump won the presidency.
Public records show that the company has more than 180 trademarks, some of them yet to receive approval, around the globe. Despite boycotts, Ivanka Trump's fashion brands are flourishing, and in particular saw a major boost in profits after Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway in a February TV interview urged viewers to purchase Ivanka Trump products.
It is not clear how Trump, now a federal employee, will navigate continuing ties to far-flung foreign business interests.
Now that she is serving in the White House in an unprecedented position, Ivanka is benefiting from loose or nonexistent accountability mechanisms. "All that buzz is hardwired to her products". "I would argue that if I had not come to Washington, D.C., and if I was in NY growing my business, I would be doing far better than by placing the restrictions that I have placed on my team, and ensuring that any growth is done with extreme caution", she said.
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