The Art of the Schlemiel
Clearly our “president” Drumpf will not be satisfied until the world economy and our international relations are in complete shambles. Hair fuhrer is a very clumsy bull and all the world is a china shop.
The postal union dates back to 1874. It is the mother of all international conventions and unions. It is, in many ways, the direct ancestor of the UN. It opened the door to a growing web of international conventions that had people convinced (wrongly, of course) that the world had become too tightly knit for global war to break out.
It’s why you can put a US stamp on a letter and have it delivered anywhere in the world and why you can send a letter from anywhere here.
It’s just more goddamn idiot vandalism, the acts of ignorant barbarian invaders idly trashing the trappings and fabric of a civilization they’re too stupid and violent to understand and thus hate and fear.
For those that listen to podcasts, there was a Planet Money episode a few months back on this.
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/08/01/634737852/episode-857-the-postal-illuminati
ETA: I’m certain the GOP/Trump administration will find a way to completely screw it up.
What a “…” idea! Offend and infuriate the country we depend upon for just about everything we consume and use in the United States! What could possibly go wrong?
The conservative/republican custom is to make big humongous bucks by wrecking the US economy, and then stand back (complaining, criticizing and impeding) while the Liberals rebuild the economy.
But I think the crash of 2007 and subsequent very difficult recovery was probably the last time this was possible for the US to do. We are fast losing our economic trust and control in the world, thanks to Trump and his masters unquenchable and unstoppable greed.
I have an audio recorder sitting on my desk that was delivered yesterday. It does a sophisticated job for a modest price and it’s vital for what I do. I just now looked inside the battery compartment and of course it was made in China. I would buy one from Americans if they made something comparable. They don’t. I can get a high-end one assembled in the States, but even that is made from parts made around the world. It costs three times as much anyway. When prices for my gear go up it’ll be a tax I’ll be paying because American workers can’t afford to live on Chinese wages. It’ll hit me harder than it’ll hit the wealthy people who buy that high-end gear made here. From globally sourced parts. Fuck you, Trump voters. Life wasn’t hard enough. Thanks and back atcha a million times harder.
I think this is not a bad idea.
I have often marveled at how ebay sellers could sell something and ship it so inexpensively to the US but if I wanted to return it for a refund, the US postal rates to send it back would be almost as much or more than the item cost.
I have felt for a long time that the Chinese merchants were getting a nearly free ride from their state subsidized postal system which then benefits from the international reciprocity agreements for postal service.
Yes, and no. In Trumpp’s hands it will be vandalism, but the rates need to be renegotiated. Most of the mail from China is commercial, and the USPS is losing money handling it. I’ve been wondering when the US government was going to get around to the matter.
If you’ve shopped much on Amazon, you have probably seen low-end items that are very cheap, but still offer free shipping. The hitch is the long shipping times measured in weeks; the items are coming from China.
I’ve seen items that cost less that a first class stamp. Somebody in the US can’t send an empty envelope to you at the price of an item delivered from China.
I don’t know what the impact on the USPS is, but, based on the number of sellers I see on Amazon, I don’t think it is small. Maybe the Planet Money episode @tomanjeri posted addresses that.
“Manufacturers and manufacturing workers in the United States will greatly benefit from a modernized and far more fair arrangement with China,” Jay Timmons, president of the manufacturers association, said in a statement."
bookmarking
“The officials say the treaty is used by shippers of the narcotic fentanyl to the U.S. from China.”
k
Do u trust this administration to get Americans a better rate deal?
Y or N?
Agree with ncsteve wholeheartedly on international letters. It is a cost-effective agreement that still holds up after 150 years.
Disagree on packages. USPS apparently is still losing money on international package delivery in the US, essentially giving China (and big Note to Trump: the rest of the world) significantly less domestic shipping cost to foreign-sourced packages than what US folks pay for domestic shipping. Since China (others) have a trade surplus, the costs are no longer equal between nations, and do, in fact, harm domestic shippers. I have taken advantage of this myself for an engine part (once), and it worked out at 5-fold less cost. Frankly, I would not do it again, as you do not know what you will get from China, and there is zero return/customer service policy.
I have to say the USPS needs to upgrade its international package policy. However, that is USPS business, not the business of the Federal Govt, or Trump idiocy.
Aaaaand Fox News now has everything its viewers need to hear about the motivation for changing the treaty.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) is the world’s second oldest international organization. It is what makes it possible to send mail to practically any country in the world using US postage stamps. It is also what makes it possible for people all over the world to send mail to the US without having to use US postage stamps. Withdrawing from the UPU could put an end to this.
The problem is not so much that other countries are getting a better as it is that they simply have lower postal rates than the US does. This is primarily a result of the mismanagement of the US Postal Service. This, again, is the fault of Congress, which has forced the USPS to divert most of its revenue stream into pension funds. As a consequence, the USPS is forced to continually raise rates just to stay afloat. The result is that the US has higher postal rates than most of the rest of the world and takes a loss when delivering foreign mail. The solution to this is not to withdraw from the UPU, but to remove most of the restrictions on the USPS and allow it to be competitive.
But apparently Trump only knows how to withdraw. So far, he’s withdrawn from TPP, the Paris Climate Accord, UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Commission, and the Iran nuclear deal. Trump has done so much withdrawing that it’s surprising that he has any children.
trump will cause a depression I think should he stay in office and if the GOP wins this election.
Congress tried to use accelerated funding to make USPS unpopular (due to rapid rate hikes) and a financial failure so that private enterprise could swoop in and claim the profitable portion of USPS services.
That certainly is the major cause of the rapid postal rate increases since the legislation, but USPS also operates in vast areas that have very low population density and it has very strong competition for parcel delivery. It also does not receive taxpayer subsidies.
I’m willing to believe that. But building on what you acknowledge here, in any other president’s hands this could be done in a good-faith, firm but non-destructive way for everyone’s mutual benefit. With Trump it’s never, ever that.
What’s the answer to bringing jobs back to America and increasing wages? This is a genuine question,I’m not as edcated as most of you on here so Im sure there’s much to the issue I don’t understand,but wouldn’t making it unprofitable to ship production to China,or anywhere else,then bring it back here?
Our entire economy will go back to us all picking cotton soon, which after all, is what conservatives have wanted ever since they lost the Civil War.