State departments backs plan for US to set own global package rates

© Natalia Bratslavsky

It’s been widely contended that the Chinese e-commerce market has been effectively subsidised by the low rates offered by the US Postal Service under Universal Postal Union (UPU) rules. But the US has now come up with a new proposal which would allow it to set its own international delivery rates, while remaining a member of the UPU. Of course, it may help boost USPS coffers – but it is also likely that other countries’ postal services would increase their prices too, adding higher costs on to US imports, reports Bloomberg.