There’s a new kind of "short-sheeting" and — instead of being a practical joke — it is an international crime.
In March, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found that foreign sheet manufacturers were shorting consumers on thread counts. In response, the ITC issued a general exclusion order banning companies from importing sheets with inflated thread counts.
The ITC found a "widespread pattern" of sheets made in India, Pakistan and China with "grossly inflated" thread counts. For example, its investigators found that some sheets labeled 800-thread count were only 250-thread count.
Thread count is a measure of the number of threads per square inch in a fabric and higher thread counts have long been associated with softer sheets. But in recent years, manufacturers have slapped ever-higher thread count claims on their packaging in a sort of bedding arms race that defied believability.
Now, thanks to the ITC order, Customs and Border Protection agents are empowered to test and seize suspicious sheets at the border instead of letting them into the United States.
The case was brought before the ITC by AAVN, a textile maker that says other manufacturers were competing unfairly.
"The pervasiveness of falsely advertised sheets hurts the entire industry," Ajay Mago of the Culhane Meadows law firm said. "Once AAVN realized what some suppliers were doing to mislead consumers, it felt a moral obligation to do something about it."
— Washington Post
