Why a weird legal dispute about whether the Snuggie is a blanket actually matters a lot

The Snuggie case and others like it show how companies may go to great lengths to avoid the barriers governments impose on imported products.

Ok! The Unites States Court of International Trade holds that the Snuggie is indeed a blanket “albeit one with sleeves”, and is therefore subject to a much lower tariff of 8.5% rather than 14.9%.

This particular case brings bit of humor to an otherwise humorless cat and mouse game between governments and businesses in the current trade landscape.

As described in today’s article, many companies decide, for a variety of reasons, to go to great lengths to circumvent high duties on imported materials, but at what cost?

Trade barriers “definitely force companies to think about undertaking actions that they wouldn’t have otherwise done,” says Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. “And the question is, well, is that beneficial for the country in some way? I suppose there are instances where it’s possible, but in most instances, no.”

Not that any of this is particularly new, but it seems a great many companies will have to find a new line between innovating products and navigating regulations.