On February 4th, US consumers waiting for packages from China received bad news from the US Postal Service. USPS temporarily stopped accepting Inbound plots from China,only Reversing the decision A few hours later. However, new tariffs are underway – Minimum online ordering.
At least Americans can feel at ease knowing how high these tariffs are, no matter how high they actually go up Please enablethey can rely on fair world shipping that reflects economic reality. Thanks to strict negotiations with the Universal Postal Coalition, which was funded by taxpayers in 2019, Americans no longer have to cover China's sub-market postage costs imposed by bureaucrats around the world.
International postage charges must reflect delivery costs.
Unfortunately, UPU still aims to reimpose biased ship fees in favor of countries that “transition” to first world countries like the United States.
To the average consumer (and many experts), the international transport system can seem hopelessly confused. Postal agencies in various countries must agree to who will originate from one country and pay when sent to another country. Under the “terminal fee” system established by the UPU, postal agencies in the country of origin must compensate the postal services of the destination country for the delivery of mail. As the US Postal Service I'll explain it“Each post office that receives mail from other administrations has the right to collect payments from the originating post office to cover the costs incurred in order to deliver the mail.”
The system may work if the postal agency fairly compensates other mail services based on delivery costs. However, in 1999, UPU was calledTerminal fees“A system that sets rates based on the economic situation of the country, not the actual shipping costs. In this system, countries classified as economic “transition” such as China paid low fees to wealthy “target” countries like the United States.
As a result, USPS, and even US taxpayers and consumers, absorbed costs when the 2015 Inspector General Report estimated when China's pay is insufficient for mailing to the US. I did. This China's first system The USPS costs around $75 million a year. Furthermore, USPS had to pay a considerable amount of money to deliver American packages within China, so it would be better for China to export products than Americans to sell products to Chinese consumers. It's cheaper. As Lin's stamp news pointed out“Shipping a pound parcel from Greenville, South Carolina to New York City costs almost $6 through the US Postal Service, but only $3.66 from Beijing to New York.”
This dynamic changed during the first Trump administration that President Trump threatened to withdraw from the UPU unless he created more equitable conditions for American businesses and the USPS. In response, the UPU convened a “extraordinary parliament” in 2019 to discuss potential reforms. The results benefited American taxpayers and consumers. In exchange for the US, which remains at the UPU and contributes to it. $40 million over five yearsUPU allowed member countries to set their own international postage rates. As a result, Americans no longer need to subsidize Chinese shipments and may request a refund that reflects actual delivery times.
So far, the results have been almost positive. 2024 analysis by the Government Accountability Bureau Found That's why USPS' international postal revenues cover inbound delivery costs for a long time.
However, there are signs of problems with brewing. Upu is still trying hard “Reduce inequality” and tackle povertyan unusual goal for the world's postal organizations. The only real lever that UPUs have to address these issues is to use a “terminal fee” system to subsidize possibly to poor countries. And that tinkering has led to so many troubles in the first place.
President Trump must keep an eye on UU and not return to old, creepy ways. International postage charges must reflect delivery costs.
