L.I. Guitar String Company Faces Struggle With China
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP/1010 WINS) -- A Long Island company known as the world's leading guitar string maker is struggling to combat an extensive counterfeit scheme based in China.
That's the word from U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who is calling for a federal crackdown.
Schumer says Farmingdale-base D'Addario is losing millions in revenue because of the counterfeiting. The company, which employs 800 people on Long Island, makes 20 million guitar string sets annually.
Podcast
1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon talks with the business owner who says the fraud is hurting his company.
The senator says phony strings allegedly made by D'Addario are being sold as the legitimate item on the Internet. The company learned of the counterfeiting when a British retailer complained about the poor quality of strings it had bought off a website.
Schumer is urging the United States trade representative to pressure China to stop the counterfeiting.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
