The Washington Post: Mago Leads Fight Against Import of Fraudulent Textiles

Ajay Mago leads AAVN to victory at the ITC, securing a ban on falsely labeled high-thread-count sheets. A major win for fair trade and consumer protection.

The Washington Post is reporting how Ajay Mago, partner, Maxson Mago & Macaulay, LLP recently led a successful global effort, on behalf of his client AAVN, against the import of falsely advertised bed sheets with inflated thread counts. The case was brought before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on behalf of AAVN, a textile maker that established how other manufacturers were competing unfairly.

“The pervasiveness of falsely advertised sheets hurts the entire industry,” said Mago. “Once AAVN realized what some suppliers were doing to mislead consumers, it felt a moral obligation to do something about it.”

The ITC found a “widespread pattern” of sheets made in India, Pakistan and China with “grossly inflated” thread counts. In one example, the investigation revealed that some sheets labeled 800-thread count were just 250-thread count. The ITC ultimately issued a general exclusion order instructing the U.S. Customs & Border Protection to ban the import of sheets with inflated thread counts.

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 efforts of AAVN and its lawyers led by Ajay Mago, Customs and Border Protection agents are empowered by the ITC order to test and seize suspicious sheets at the border instead of letting them into the United States.

“Hopefully, Customs will do a good job enforcing the general exclusion order,” Mago said. “It’s a big step in the right direction . . . a victory both for consumers and suppliers who play by the rules.”