Ford wins right to bar imports of Taiwan-made truck part

The U.S. International Trade Commission issued an order Thursday to block imports of Taiwanese parts that infringe seven Ford design patents, the agency said Friday in a statement. The decision is subject to review by President George W. Bush. F-series pickup trucks have led U.S. sales since the early 1980s, with the F-150 accounting for about 60 percent of sales. Ford introduced a new F-150 design in September 2003, and Taiwan-made parts copies were “flooding the U.S. market” within two years, Ford said in the ITC complaint.

“It was pretty extensive and enough that it was impacting not only the business but the industry as a whole,” said Kristen Kinley, a spokeswoman for Ford, based in Dearborn, Michigan. “Counterfeiting is a major issue with not just us but a number of automakers in the industry, and it seems to be growing.”

Parts covered by the order include grilles, headlights, bumpers, side-view mirrors and taillights. The order is to last until the expiration of the design patents, which last 14 years.

The ITC issued a so-called general exclusion order directed at four Taiwanese parts-makers and two California distributors.

It will affect “any other manufacturers not named in the complaint that may try to export parts that are encompassed within the order,” said Ford lawyer V. James Adduci of Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg in Washington.

The companies named are Keystone Automotive Industries Inc. of Pomona, California; U.S. Autoparts Network Inc. of Carson, California; and Taiwanese parts makers Gordon Auto Body Parts Co., Y.C.C. Parts Manufacturing Co., TYC Brother Industrial Co. and Depo Auto Parts Ind. Co.

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