Ethics experts say this raises conflict-of-interest concerns.
Ivanka Trump has scored a batch of new trademarks in China as her father continues trade talks with Beijing.
Seven trademarks were officially registered to Ivanka Trump this month with China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce, according to the government’s trademark database. They are for items such as kitchenware, furniture, paper products and cosmetics.
The approvals come as President Donald Trump remains engaged in trade negotiations with China on a wide range of issues.
Ethics experts say this raises conflict-of-interest concerns, since Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both serve as senior advisers in the White House.
« They come at a time when her father and his administration, in which she and her husband work, are making enormously consequential decisions with and about China, » said Norm Eisen, the former ethics chief for President Barack Obama and a CNN contributor.
« The conflict comes because we do not know if the Trump administration is making these official decisions [on China] to benefit the US, or to get more trademarks and other benefits for the Trump family, » he added.
Eisen is an attorney in lawsuits against Trump that allege that the president’s acceptance of payments and other benefits from foreign governments is in violation of the Constitution.
Abigail Klem, president of the Ivanka Trump brand, said in a statement that the fashion line regularly files for trademarks, especially in areas where trademark infringement is common.
« The brand has filed, updated, and rigorously protected its international trademarks over the past several years in the normal course of business, especially in regions where trademark infringement is rampant, » she said. « We have recently seen a surge in trademark filings by unrelated third parties trying to capitalize on the name and it is our responsibility to diligently protect our trademark.
