The US has named China the leading physical market that sells counterfeit goods, while websites in Europe, South America and Canada led in online sales of fakes.
US trade representative (USTR) Michael Froman said the Notorious Markets List for 2013 highlighted markets that allegedly harmed US businesses and jobs by infringing on intellectual property rights.
The USTR said the markets were selected for the "notorious" label because they exemplified concerns about trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy on a global basis and because the scale and popularity of these marketplaces could cause economic harm to the US.
The USTR said the list was aimed at helping the US and foreign governments prioritise enforcement of intellectual property rights.
"The markets we have identified unfairly take from these American workers, diminishing the value and saleability of their work and threatening their jobs," Froman said in a statement.
He said consumers could be harmed by counterfeit goods such as medicines, personal care products and automotive parts.
Physical markets in China singled out include the Silk Market in Beijing and the Garment Wholesale Centre in Guangzhou, which the USTR said was a key contributor to counterfeiting in China and worldwide.
Buynow PC Malls, a chain of 22 personal computer malls across China, are a source of pirated movies, games and software, according to the report.
Several markets in Thailand were included, including Bangkok's MBK and Pantip Plaza shopping centres. Efforts to enforce copyright protections in them "are largely ineffective", the report said.
Six markets in India were named, with Nehru Place in New Delhi singled out as a "prominent example" of places that allegedly deal in large volumes of pirated software and counterfeit goods.
It also named the Seventh Kilometre Market in Odessa, Ukraine, and La Salada in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as selling fakes openly.
La Salada "is so well-known for the availability of counterfeit and pirated products that dedicated buses bring shoppers from Paraguay and Uruguay to the market".
Online marketplaces included Sweden-based The Pirate Bay, which helps users download unauthorised copyright-protected content, the similar KickassTorrents, reportedly based in Canada, and BitTorrent aggregator Torrentz.eu, formerly torrentz.com, which reportedly operates either from Canada or Finland.
