AAFA president and CEO Steve Lamar said in a statement the organisation is “pleased” to see USTR, “recognise existing concerns across e-commerce and social media sites, including mentioning Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. This is an important step to help raise awareness of the scourge of dangerous counterfeits.”
USTR’s 2025 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy is an annual report that identifies physical marketplaces and online platforms worldwide where pirated or counterfeit goods and services are reported to be available or trafficked, based on information submitted by rights holders and other stakeholders.
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Each year, AAFA submits concerns about markets that allow and benefit from the promotion and sale of counterfeit products, warning that such activity threatens businesses, workers, consumers and American innovation.
In its fall 2025 submission, the association recommended several platforms for inclusion in the 2025 report, including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, as well as marketplaces operated by Alibaba Group and Shopee.
The report highlighted in 2025, as with in previous years, several submissions found trends that spread through social commerce sites encouraging consumers to seek out counterfeit goods.
An increasing popularity of social media influencers who review, promote, and share links to counterfeit luxury products, would intentionally drive their viewers to purchase counterfeit goods through pages linked in their social media profiles.
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By GlobalDataUSTR said it will continue to monitor and engage with such platforms and suggests that ecommerce and social commerce platforms can continue to address these types of concerns by adopting strong and effective IP enforcement policies, increasing transparency and collaboration with right holders to quickly address complaints, and working more closely with law enforcement to identify IP infringement.
Meta did not return Just Style’s request for comment.
AAFA senior director of brand protection Jennifer Hanks said members are devoting significant resources to tackling counterfeits across e-commerce and social commerce platforms.
“In addition to USTR’s emphasis on global marketplaces, all domestic platforms should institute more proactive, preventative measures to address dangerous counterfeits, fraudulent advertisements and ways to take consumers off platform to fraudulent websites.
“We look forward to continued collaboration with USTR, Congress, and the Trump Administration to advance initiatives to address issues across the Digital Devalue Chain of Counterfeits,” added Hanks.
Lamar went on to say that increased attention on intellectual property protections and consumer safety remains crucial, particularly as the apparel and footwear industry faces among the highest threats of IP theft.
He warned that counterfeiters can underprice goods by bypassing the checks and costs associated with responsibly sourced and ethically produced products.
“Legitimate brands invest millions to make sure products are responsibly made and ethically sourced. Counterfeiters can largely avoid those extra costs,” Lamar said.
Earlier this month, AAFA released research examining the safety of counterfeit apparel, footwear and accessories. The report, titled Unboxing Fake Fashion Unleashing Real Dangers, found a 41% safety failure rate and highlighted evidence that counterfeit products can present serious chemical and product safety risks to consumers.
