The United States will begin withdrawing from the Universal Postal Union, a United Nations treaty that lowered rates for foreign postal deliveries in the United States, reports the BBC.
American firms say it can cost significantly more to post an item within the US than it does to send the same item to the US from China.
The United Nations treaty sets lower international rates for packages from certain countries, a move originally designed to support poorer nations.
But the US says the discounts put American businesses at a disadvantage.
Officials said they hope the notice of withdrawal will set the stage to agree a better deal.
Commenting on the story, ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT said: “Trump’s bomb-shell could result in postal chaos if other countries decide to follow suit.”
“The UPU is paying the price for failing to raise the ultra-cheap rates China pays for postage to the West at its recent Extraordinary Congress.”
“Trump threatened to impose US postal dues unilaterally if the UPU failed to agree new rates, and now the Financial Times reports he is kick-starting the year long process.
“British and American online retailers have long-complained that Chinese e-commerce letter-size packages to the West are massively subsidised by our postal services, thanks to secret rates arranged by the UPU. Whether Trump’s letter bomb-shell will ultimately be good or bad news for UK and US traders remains to be seen.”
(PostandParcel)
