U.S. plans to shake up international postal rates next month
The U.S. plans to withdraw from yet another international body next month (October 2019), this time the 144-year-old Universal Postal Union (UPU) that governs how the cost of mailing from one country to another is handled. The UPU is trying to negotiate a last-minute compromise this month, and there could be significant effects on postal package costs.
https://business.financialpost.com/news ... businesses
The issue is a familiar one: package post costs from China to North America are too cheap.
Under the current postal system, countries receive a fixed terminal-delivery fee per item under 2 kg, with the net amount paid from the post office of the sending country to the post office of the receiving country as a lump sum each period based on volume and balance in each direction in that period. But "developing" countries pay a special lower rate than developed countries, and the "developing" country that stands out by a huge amount is of course China. That's why your package shipments from China are so cheap compared to shipments within Canada/U.S..
The U.S. says they will withdraw from the UPU unless they get to set their own terminal-delivery rates per country. Canada will likely be affected, both because our retail business associations will push for the same treatment of Chinese direct shipments, and because the U.S. will not want to see goods from China enter indirectly via Canada.
https://business.financialpost.com/news ... businesses
The issue is a familiar one: package post costs from China to North America are too cheap.
Under the current postal system, countries receive a fixed terminal-delivery fee per item under 2 kg, with the net amount paid from the post office of the sending country to the post office of the receiving country as a lump sum each period based on volume and balance in each direction in that period. But "developing" countries pay a special lower rate than developed countries, and the "developing" country that stands out by a huge amount is of course China. That's why your package shipments from China are so cheap compared to shipments within Canada/U.S..
The U.S. says they will withdraw from the UPU unless they get to set their own terminal-delivery rates per country. Canada will likely be affected, both because our retail business associations will push for the same treatment of Chinese direct shipments, and because the U.S. will not want to see goods from China enter indirectly via Canada.
