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US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

bbc.com

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Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#11

Post by sschueller »

We have the same issue in Switzerland with cheap packages from China which are received as mail but do not fit through the automated sorting system. This requires a lot of manual labor which increases the costs for the postal service.

This is why sometime this year people who receive such mail will be billed additional fees increasing slowly over the next few years.

The treaty allows under developed nations to ship at a much lower rate. China and a few others should simply be reclassified.

This does not require having to leave the treaty.

Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#12

Post by geezerjay »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #2

A friend helped the Wall Street Journal expose the damage this treaty was doing to his small business in the United States as it tried to fend off counterfeiters. https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-subsidy-for-china-is-dumb-... Seems like a win for American innovation if you care about that thing. Seems like China is going to get hurt by this change which is bad for globalization if you are into that thing.

What about customers and companies not located within the US or China? It seems that the extra cost of doing business will force all of us to do business elsewhere.

Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#13

Post by forrestthewoods »

derekmhewitt wrote: post #6

Not weighing in on if this is a good or bad thing overall, but I did listen to a pretty good NPR podcast a while back that explains a little more about this treaty and how it was affecting businesses in the US. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/08/01/634737852/epis...

I came to the comments to post this exact podcast! It's a great listen.

Such a good feeling when a seemingly crazy conspiracy story turns out to be pretty much spot on the money.

Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#14

Post by hw »

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #3

This is absolutely a good idea. Whoever thought it would be advantageous for packages from China to cost less to ship than equivalent packages within the USA, is beyond me. I hope there are positive economic and environmental results from this move. What will be the unintended consequences I wonder?

I'm not sure if this will really make a dent in the price gap between Chinese and local goods, and if it doesn't, well, people will still pick the more affordable option. Manufacturing and labor costs are still significantly lower in China in comparison.

As the article states, there are also businesses who rely on these rates for their inventory or materials. Those businesses will also get impacted, and the extra cost will likely be passed down to consumers. Stuff on Amazon might not be so cheap anymore

Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#17

Post by fzeroracer »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #2

A friend helped the Wall Street Journal expose the damage this treaty was doing to his small business in the United States as it tried to fend off counterfeiters. https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-subsidy-for-china-is-dumb-... Seems like a win for American innovation if you care about that thing. Seems like China is going to get hurt by this change which is bad for globalization if you are into that thing.

What about American innovation that relies on certain parts from China, such as the entire electronic industry which we operate in?

Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#18

Post by com2kid »

devoply wrote: post #4

Say goodbye to AliExpress in the US. This will more or less kill the business model that AliExpress relies on in the US for most cheap products.

I imagine Wish may also be in trouble. There are quite a few other online retailers that depend on this law.

For those who enjoy cheap odd tablets, now is the time to stock up.

Re: US Announces Withdraw From Postal Treaty

#20

Post by nostromo »

fzeroracer wrote: post #17
godzillabrennus wrote: post #2

A friend helped the Wall Street Journal expose the damage this treaty was doing to his small business in the United States as it tried to fend off counterfeiters. https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-subsidy-for-china-is-dumb-... Seems like a win for American innovation if you care about that thing. Seems like China is going to get hurt by this change which is bad for globalization if you are into that thing.

What about American innovation that relies on certain parts from China, such as the entire electronic industry which we operate in?

They should pay the cost of shipping their parts from China to the US without a subsidy from the US taxpayer.
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