If you’ve ever thrown on a pair of fresh Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, you might have noticed an unusual feature—felt soles. While Converse might want you to think this odd layer of fabric is for things like “shape retention” and “quieter usage,” the real reason behind it all comes down to exploiting legal loopholes for the bottom line. Converse is part of Nike, which imports its products into the U.S. from China. Back in 2018, the Trump administration imposed large new tariffs on a wide range of US imports from China, but some items had heftier price tags than others. As Nicholas Mortimer of the Strategic Sourceror explained, sneaker imports are subject to a 37.5% tariff.Slippers, on the other hand, have a measly 3% tariff. And lucky enough for Nike, the legal requirement for a shoe to be considered a slipper is having a fuzzy sole. Meaning that by slapping enough felt to the bottom—which eventually deteriorates with a few wears—the company was able to save a ton of money on import taxes. Interestingly enough, if you look at the images associated with the Converse Chuck Taylor patent, they look a lot more slipper-esque than the sneakers you’ll see on their website. A sneaker in slipper's clothing. patentimages.storage.googleapis.com This also kind of explains how Converse can boast of the slip resistance of their shoes, when anyone who’s worn a new pair of Chuck Taylors in the rain—and proceeded to bust their ass—can tell you that is definitely not true. For that issue, GearPatrol suggests using sandpaper to slough off “the hairy bits.”The whole fuzzy sole loophole is a prime example of “tariff engineering,” which, unlike, say, tax evasion, is a legal way of avoiding higher import rates, usually by redesigning a product—like tweaking the materials or structure, or breaking it into smaller values to qualify for a tariff exemption. @let_me_ask_you_this #let #me #ask #you #this #trivia #question #fun #facts #fact #Converse #all #star #Chuck #Taylor #felt #tarrif #taxes #import #slippers #converseallstar ♬ original sound - ScottJCarroll An even stranger example of tariff engineering is brought to you by Disney. As explained in Slash Film, the company, which owns Marvel, had its X-Men action figures classified as toys representing “non-human characters,” since apparently human “dolls” are taxed at a higher rate. A bit of an odd move, considering the entire overarching theme of X-Men. But probably not Disney’s most egregious sin committed in order to make more money.As Donald Trump’s second term approaches, tariff talk, and its potential consequences, has been all a flutter. The President-elect has said the goal would be to impose a 25% tariff on all items imported from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on imports from China, possibly affecting electronics, clothing, household appliances, furniture, footwear and travel goods. Considering that Jonathan Gold, Vice President for supply chains and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, mentioned tariffs for toys specifically would be going from a "practically 0% tariff rate” to upwards of 36% to 56%, it seems that the X-Men are going to feel a much bigger blow than any sneakers will. Although, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Disney and various other companies finding more clever ways of skirting the system as to not upset their profits. Cause after all, isn’t that what capitalism’s all about?