CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A local manufacturer is at the heart of several investigations involving Chinese companies.

• Charlotte Pipe and Foundry said a representative in Shanghai found a Chinese business had stolen the company’s name.
• There were more than 420 arrests for intellectual property violations by foreign companies during the year ending last June.
• According to a recent report to Congress, seizures from intellectual property violations totaled more than a billion dollars last year.

Charlotte Pipe and Foundry said a representative in Shanghai found a Chinese business had stolen the company’s name, logo and trademarks.

There were more than 420 arrests for intellectual property violations by foreign companies during the year ending last June, according to the Office of the US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

"They're stealing hundreds of billions of dollars in intellectual property every year from U.S. companies,” Charlotte Pipe and Foundry CEO Roddey Dowd, Jr. said. “I mean it’s as prevalent as the sunshine."

Charlotte Pipe and Foundry is in a legal battle to get its trademarks back in China. It’s also at the center of trade investigations, where it’s accused Chinese businesses of illegally selling products below fair value, dumping cast iron up to 110 percent below market value.

Dowd says unfair Chinese trade practices even contribute to the US issuing tariffs on neighbors and allies.

“You put tariffs on China, well they'll ship their steel to Mexico, then Mexicans put a stamp on it, and it'll come across the border under NAFTA tariffs free,” Dowd said. “So it’s a charade."

According to a recent report to Congress, seizures from intellectual property violations totaled more than a billion dollars last year.