U.S. sends notice of international postal pact withdrawal

Action could be reversed if negotiations with the Universal Postal Union are successful.

    President Trump says the United States will begin the process of withdrawing from the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a specialized agency of the United Nations that sets rates for international postage and has been criticized for giving China a competitive edge.
    “The president concurs with the Department of State’s recommendation to adopt self-declared rates for terminal dues as soon as practical and no later than January 1, 2020,” said a statement from the White House press office. “The Department of State will also file notice that the United States will withdraw from the UPU. This will begin a one-year withdrawal process, as set forth in the UPU Constitution.”
    The statement said, “During this period, the Department of State will seek to negotiate bilateral and multilateral agreements that resolve” problems outlined in an Aug. 23 memorandum.
    The White House said “if successful, the administration is prepared to rescind the notice of withdrawal and remain in the UPU.”
   Trump’s action was hailed by Jay Timmons, the president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Manufacturers, which said the UPU “allows China to receive a massive subsidy from the U.S. Postal Service that, due to the rise of e-commerce, is fueling the shipment of counterfeit goods and dangerous drugs like Fentanyl into the U.S. Last year alone this subsidy cost the U.S. Postal Service $170 million and is growing annually at a roughly 40 percent rate.”
   Timmons said, “President Trump deserves tremendous credit for the administration’s focus on eliminating the anti-U.S. manufacturer subsidy China receives from the U.S. Postal Service. This outdated arrangement contributes significantly to the flood of counterfeit goods and dangerous drugs that enter the country from China. Manufacturers and manufacturing workers in the United States will greatly benefit from a modernized and far more fair arrangement with China.”