Buh bye, de minimis!

[lowwall]

With the US taxpayer paying the postage. Don't forget that part. We are paying the postage to move jobs out of the USA.

Source for this? I suspect you are talking about the UPU rates prior to the big jump in July 2020. Since that time international incoming deliveries have been highly profitable for the USPS. Also note that this was only ever an issue for packages under 2 kilos in weight. Postage for larger packages have always been set by market rates.

Even when the USPS was losing money on small incoming packages in the 2010s, they have always had a net profit over all international package shipments thanks to the charges for outgoing packages and larger incoming packages.

 

[lexvil]

Source for this? I suspect you are talking about the UPU rates prior to the big jump in July 2020. Since that time international incoming deliveries have been highly profitable for the USPS. Also note that this was only ever an issue for packages under 2 kilos in weight. Postage for larger packages have always been set by market rates.

Even when the USPS was losing money on small incoming packages in the 2010s, they have always had a net profit over all international package shipments thanks to the charges for outgoing packages and larger incoming packages.

And the postal service is not supported by tax money.

 

[Wookie]

And the postal service is not supported by tax money.

You’ll never convince a MAGA of this

 

[BRT]

Source for this? I suspect you are talking about the UPU rates prior to the big jump in July 2020. Since that time international incoming deliveries have been highly profitable for the USPS. Also note that this was only ever an issue for packages under 2 kilos in weight. Postage for larger packages have always been set by market rates.

Even when the USPS was losing money on small incoming packages in the 2010s, they have always had a net profit over all international package shipments thanks to the charges for outgoing packages and larger incoming packages.

The smallest flat rate box from Seattle to Oroville WA, about 270 miles is $10.60.

$6.82 for up to a kilo from China.

Yes Trump raised the rates way up. Yes, they are still heavily subsidized.

Impact on small eCommerce packages from China​

On July 1, 2020, USPS raised the fees it charges for incoming parcels. International shippers, including from China, now have to pay $2.87 per package and $3.95 per kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). This is a huge increase in shipping costs on small parcels from China to the US. In the past, the cost to mail packages under 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) from China was less than the cost to ship the same package within the US. See below for more on the cheap postage that fueled China’s micro-eCommerce boom.

 

[Olsen_No]

The smallest flat rate box from Seattle to Oroville WA, about 270 miles is $10.60.

$6.82 for up to a kilo from China.

Yes Trump raised the rates way up. Yes, they are still heavily subsidized.

Impact on small eCommerce packages from China​

On July 1, 2020, USPS raised the fees it charges for incoming parcels. International shippers, including from China, now have to pay $2.87 per package and $3.95 per kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). This is a huge increase in shipping costs on small parcels from China to the US. In the past, the cost to mail packages under 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) from China was less than the cost to ship the same package within the US. See below for more on the cheap postage that fueled China’s micro-eCommerce boom.

That’s a fair question. You’re right that prior to July 2020, USPS was losing money on many inbound international packages, especially small ones under 2 kg from countries like China — effectively a subsidy that helped fuel China’s cheap eCommerce exports.


The reason USPS couldn’t raise the rates earlier is because the prices for international inbound packages were set under rules from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) — a UN-affiliated treaty that governs how countries handle international mail. Under the UPU’s structure, China was classified as a “developing country,” which meant it got extremely favorable shipping rates into countries like the U.S.

That changed when the U.S. pushed for reform (and even threatened to leave the UPU). As of July 2020, USPS gained the right to set its own inbound postage rates, which led to a sharp increase in what international shippers (including Chinese sellers) have to pay.


For example, they now pay $2.87 per package plus $3.95/kg, which is a huge jump compared to before. That change has made incoming international parcels much more profitable or at least cost-covering for USPS.

So yes, this was a real issue in the past — but it’s no longer true that U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing cheap packages from China today.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Where's all the tariff money going?