Since bursting onto the infomercial scene in 2008, one question has confounded the nation about the Snuggie: Is it a blanket or a garment? Nearly 10 years later, we finally have our answer.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection had categorized the Snuggie as a garment, making it subject to a 14.9 percent tariff, whereas blankets get hit at 8.5 percent. Allstar Marketing, which sells Snuggies, balked at that classification. This led to a showdown between Allstar and the Justice Department before the U.S. Court of International Trade, where Judge Mark Allen Barnett settled the question. According to Bloomberg, Barnett ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was wrong to classify Snuggies as garments. In a 32-page decision, he noted that not only is the product marketed as a blanket, depicting consumers “in the types of situations one might use a blanket,” but also that the addition of sleeves alone does not transform the blanket into clothing. The decision also referenced the Slanket and the Freedom Blanket, Snuggie precursors classified as blankets by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
LAUGHED OUT
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