Counterfeit construction products from low-cost sourcing countries

Abstract

Counterfeiting has been around since ancient times. Counterfeiting in modern times was once widespread and not confined to any geographic region. With the globalization efforts following World War II, counterfeiting became an international problem, much of it emanating from Japan’s developing manufacturing-based economy. As Japan’s economy matured in the late 1960s, the epicenter of the counterfeiting industry moved to Korea. As Korea’s economy improved, the bulk of the problem moved to China, where it resides today. A research project was funded by the Construction Industry Institute in Austin, TX to answer four questions: 1) Has the worldwide counterfeiting problem extended into construction materials, equipment and other products?; If so, how large is the problem?; If so, what countries or regions are the source of the counterfeit goods?; If so, what countries or regions are the destination of the counterfeit goods? Results showed that counterfeiting of construction goods is a problem that the problem is large and dangerous, that, like counterfeiting as a whole, China is the primary source of counterfeit construction goods, and the destination of the counterfeit goods is most often the U.S., but can be any place that the counterfeiter thinks that a profit can be made. The team was also asked to make recommendations to industry to mitigate the problem.