• Nike is teaming up with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prevent counterfeits from entering the country.
• Nike is donating proprietary technology that will identify counterfeit sneakers.
• CBP says it seized more than $ 1.3 billion in goods, if they were real goods, last year.
• See more stories on the Insider business page.

Nike will work with U.S. customers and border protection to combat counterfeit goods entering the United States, the agency said Thursday.

CBP said it seized 26,503 shipments containing counterfeit goods in fiscal 2020 that “would have been worth nearly $ 1.3 billion if they had been genuine.”

CBP says counterfeit products pose a significant risk to the US economy.

Quartz reported in 2020 that an international counterfeit network was using “an elaborate network of fictitious company names, fake papers, fake email addresses and burner phones” to ship goods worth $ 472 million. dollars in the United States, if they were in fact real goods.

Authorities were able to track down the vendors using cooperating witnesses and undercover agents, the site reported.

Counterfeit shoes are also a big deal for dealers.

Insider previously reported that some sneaker retailers are using AI technology to authenticate sneakers. The authentication process is as simple as placing the shoe in a machine, and within minutes the software is able to identify whether or not a shoe is real with a series of photographs.

It is not known how CBP will identify the fake shoes. Nike did not respond to a request for comment.

“As criminal organizations use the proceeds of counterfeit sales to fund other illegal activities, our partnerships help strengthen our border security posture through innovation and value for money,” said Diane Sabatino , CBP’s Executive Assistant Field Operations Commissioner, in a press release. “Our partnerships with stakeholders are vital to CBP’s law enforcement mission and the continued success of protecting US businesses and consumers from counterfeit products.