Withdrawal from the Universal Postal Union
I ship stuff. Mostly in the US, sometimes overseas. Not a lot.
But the buffoon in the WH wants to withdraw from the Universal Postal Union, mainly because Chinese postal rates are so low that Chinese companies are able to ship directly to customers in the US at rates lower than American companies can to ship the same or similar products domestically in the US.
This could require the US to negotiate new postal rates with up to 191 other members of the UPU. This would sort of be like withdrawing with the postal equivalent of the United Nations. My guess? The US won't withdraw. But if it does, the prospects, like everything else with this vile administration, are murky.
What prompted this was a link on a shipping services company page regarding the impact of withdrawal. Not surprisingly, it doesn't really reassure because they really don't know.
Here's the link, for those folks here who ship worldwide. https://www.osmworldwide.com/how-will-u-s-withdrawal-from-the-upu-affect-you/
So, sure nothing may happen, but this adds confusion and uncertainty where a few weeks ago there was none, and there was fundamentally no need to do this. The whole purpose of this sort of union, like treaties generally, is that there are mechanisms to address and resolve grievances.
I am so fucking fed up with all of this.