Amazon is an easy target, but here's the actual problem:
This strange consequence of postal law was less significant when the mail was mostly personal correspondence. But as Chinese companies began logging on to Web marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba, they started taking advantage of the shipping deal to sell directly to American consumers. And so it’s never been easier to get something cheap and Chinese delivered to your door for a startlingly low price: $4.64 for a
digital alarm clock; $2.50 for a
folding knife; $1.88 for an
iPhone cable — all with shipping included.
“I can’t believe our government would do this to undercut American sellers to help the Chinese sell more in America,” McGrath said.
Under this decades-old arrangement, which is overseen by an agency of the United Nations and has participation from nearly every country, national postal services give each other discounted rates on international mail under a certain size and weight.
Here’s how it works. Say someone from Germany wants to sends a letter or package (under 4.4 pounds) to Chicago. The German postal service will handle the Germany-to-U.S. leg. After the package arrives in, say, New York, the USPS takes over, delivering it to its final destination.
Countries used to provide this forwarding service to each other for free, but in 1969 an
update to this postal treaty called for small fees (called terminal dues) on each mail piece. Since then the dues have grown, and the payment system has become labyrinthine. In most cases, however, postal services still charge each other less than they would charge their own citizens for moving a package across the country.
According to the terms set out in Universal Postal Union treaty, the USPS in 2014 gets paid no more than about $1.50 for delivering a one-pound package from a foreign carrier, which makes it hard to cover costs. [1] The USPS inspector general’s office
estimated that the USPS lost $79 million in fiscal year 2013 delivering this foreign treaty mail. (The Postal Service itself declined to provide specific figures.)
The Postal Service is losing millions a year to help you buy cheap stuff from China