Apparel and Footwear Association Urges USTR to Add U.S. Platforms to 2026 Notorious Markets Report

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on October 7, recommending that USTR include Facebook, Instagram, Alibaba.com, AliExpress, and DHgate in its 2026 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (NML) report. While Alibaba and DHgate platforms have been included on the list before, Facebook and Instagram have “avoided accountability” so far, according to the letter.

AAFA represents more than 1,100 apparel, footwear, and sewn products brands. The five platforms were selected through a member ranking poll drawn from a list of 38 platforms. Apparel, footwear, and accessories continued to dominate the top 10 commodities seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Fiscal Year 2025, according to the letter. AAFA tested 39 counterfeit products and found that 41% failed U.S. and international product safety standards, identifying chemicals such as phthalates, lead, formaldehyde, and nickel. At least 25% of the failed products were purchased on or marketed through Meta-owned platforms.

AAFA said USTR “must list domestic platforms, as comments dictate, to keep dangerous counterfeits off marketplaces and out of American homes,” since excluding them grants “an implicit license to profit from the sale of counterfeit products” to U.S. and global consumers. The letter cited Meta’s 3.6 billion daily active users, though it added that AAFA was not requesting that Meta or Alibaba be nominated as a whole, only the named platforms. “Several of the most problematic online ‘markets’ that facilitate fraud and put Americans at risk have long avoided accountability in this process because they are headquartered in America,” said the letter. “Members show that domestic platforms are among the most egregious, putting the health and safety of Americans at risk…”

Fraudulent advertising that impersonates brands remained the most significant problem for AAFA members across Meta platforms. A November 2025 Reuters investigation cited in the letter reported that internal Meta documents estimated 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements daily, generating about $7 billion in annualized revenue. One member reported that nearly 800 distinct Facebook pages generated roughly 2,000 submissions between February and June 2026, since the same pages had to be reported repeatedly. Another member removed over 120,000 counterfeit products and over 24,000 fraudulent advertisements across Facebook and Instagram in the first six months of 2026.

Meta’s Brand Rights Protection (BRP) tool caps takedown requests at 100 pieces of content or accounts, and one member documented a single advertisement connected to over 1,700 other advertisements that could not be reported. A separate member measured a mean of 22 days to initiate a removal on Facebook, compared with three days on Instagram, during two weeks in September 2026. One service provider member stated that compliance remains strong and actions are generally taken promptly. AAFA requested seller and advertiser verification, a publicly shared repeat infringer policy, and a connection between WhatsApp and BRP.

During two weeks in September, one member found that 100% of the items returned in a Facebook search for a popular T-shirt were counterfeit, with close to 800 in the first week and 600 in the second. Another member’s Instagram search for a popular T-shirt returned close to 3,000 counterfeits in the first week and over 2,500 in the second.

One member found Alibaba.com about 95% clean in keyword searches during September, and another reported that about 90% of reported URLs were removed in the first six months of 2026, while another member identified approximately 1,200 infringing listings on Alibaba.com between November 2025 and August 2026, with about 550 unique sellers generating an estimated $500,000 in revenue. On AliExpress, one member found the platform about 90% clean in keyword searches while another reported that about 95% of reported listings were removed, and a third identified approximately 3,000 infringing listings across the AliExpress ecosystem, with about 73,000 items sold earning sellers almost $320,000.

Alibaba platforms operate a two-tier repeat infringer system, according to AAFA. “Serious Violations” can trigger a three-strike policy, while “General Violations” accumulate penalty points that appear to require nine separate violations before termination. The European Commission fined AliExpress 550 million euros on July 20 for breaching the Digital Services Act, and AAFA understood that AliExpress has appealed.

One member stated that “DHgate should be on the blacklist,” and brands reported that removing one listing at a time does not address a seller’s related listings, linked accounts, or repeat behavior. Removal rates varied, with one member citing approximately 70% of notified listings removed and another citing almost 99% removed in the first six months of 2026. Members described the IP Protection Portal at brand.dhgate.com as a useful reporting mechanism.

The letter discussed Goofish/Xianyu, Shopee, and TikTok and TikTok Shop but did not formally nominate them, since they did not reach the top five. Multiple members identified artificial intelligence as the biggest year-over-year change, used to create fraudulent advertisements, fake websites, product descriptions, and social media content. Members also reported that high-quality counterfeits, sometimes called “superfakes,” are growing alongside low-quality products.

AAFA said platforms must face the same requirements as brick-and-mortar businesses and “equivalent liabilities” for promoting and selling counterfeit products.