Posted on 08/24/2018 11:51:23 AM PDT by MarchonDC09122009
Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Homeland Security, Postmaster General, and Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE
Issued on: August 23, 2018
menuALL NEWS MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY THE POSTMASTER GENERAL THE CHAIRMAN OF THE POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
SUBJECT: Modernizing the Monetary Reimbursement Model for the Delivery of Goods Through the International Postal System and Enhancing the Security and Safety of International Mail
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Definitions. (a) “Good” means any tangible and movable object that can be conveyed by the international postal system, excluding (i) written, drawn, printed, or digital information recorded on a tangible medium that is not an object of merchandise and (ii) money.
(b) “Non-postal operator” means a private express carrier, freight forwarder, or other provider of services for the collection, transportation, and delivery of international documents and packages, other than a postal operator.
(c) “Postal operator” means a governmental or non‑governmental entity officially designated by a Universal Postal Union (UPU) member country to operate postal services and to fulfill the related obligations arising out of the Acts of the UPU on its territory.
(d) “Terminal dues” means the rates or fees determined through the UPU and paid by the postal operator in the country of origin to the postal operator in the country of destination to compensate for costs incurred in the country of destination for processing, transportation, and delivery of international “letter post” items, which may include documents or goods and generally weigh up to 4.4 pounds.
Sec. 2. Policy. (a) The UPU was established in 1874 by 21 countries. The United States played an integral role in the UPU’s creation and, since that time, the United States has actively participated in all phases of the UPU’s work. The United States is a party to the current Constitution of the UPU ‑‑ which was adopted in 1964 ‑‑ and intends to continue to participate fully in and financially contribute to the UPU, as provided in Article 21 of the UPU Constitution. As a member country of the UPU, the United States recognizes the importance of this long-standing organization and is proud of the United States’ unbroken record of participation in it.
The Congress has provided that the Secretary of State (Secretary), in concluding postal treaties, conventions, or other international agreements, shall, to the maximum extent practicable, take measures to encourage governments of other countries to make available to the United States Postal Service (USPS) and private companies a range of nondiscriminatory customs procedures that will fully meet the needs of all types of American shippers (39 U.S.C. 407(e)(3)).
The Congress has likewise directed that responsible officials shall apply the customs laws of the United States and all other laws relating to importation or exportation of goods in the same manner to shipments of goods that are competitive products of the USPS and to similar shipments by private companies (39 U.S.C. 407(e)(2)).
It is the policy of the United States to promote and encourage the development of an efficient and competitive global system that provides for fair and nondiscriminatory postal rates.
(b) It is in the interest of the United States to:
(i) promote and encourage communications between peoples by efficient operation of international postal services and other international delivery services for cultural, social, and economic purposes (39 U.S.C. 407(a)(1));
(ii) promote and encourage unrestricted and undistorted competition in the provision of international postal services and other international delivery services, except where provision of such services by private companies may be prohibited by the laws of the United States (39 U.S.C. 407(a)(2));
(iii) promote and encourage a clear distinction between governmental and operational responsibilities with respect to the provision of international postal services and other international delivery services by the Government of the United States and by intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member (39 U.S.C. 407(a)(3)); and
(iv) participate in multilateral and bilateral agreements with other countries to accomplish these objectives (39 U.S.C. 407(a)(4)).
(c) Some current international postal practices in the UPU do not align with United States economic and national security interests:
(i) UPU terminal dues, in many cases, are less than comparable domestic postage rates. As a result:
(A) the United States, along with other member countries of the UPU, is in many cases not fully reimbursed by the foreign postal operator for the cost of delivering foreign-origin letter post items, which can result in substantial preferences for foreign mailers relative to domestic mailers;
(B) the current terminal dues rates undermine the goal of unrestricted and undistorted competition in cross-border delivery services because they disadvantage non-postal operators seeking to offer competing collection and outward transportation services for goods covered by terminal dues in foreign markets; and
(C) the current system of terminal dues distorts the flow of small packages around the world by incentivizing the shipping of goods from foreign countries that benefit from artificially low reimbursement rates.
(ii) The UPU has not done enough to reorient international mail to achieve a clear distinction between documents and goods. Without such a distinction, it is difficult to achieve essential pricing reforms or to ensure that customs requirements, including provision of electronic customs data for goods, are met. Under the current system, foreign postal operators do not uniformly furnish advance electronic customs data that are needed to enhance targeting and risk management for national security and to facilitate importation and customs clearance. My Administration’s Initiative to Stop Opioids Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, launched in March of this year, requires accurate advance electronic customs data for 90 percent of all international mail shipments that contain goods and consignment shipments within 3 years, so that the Department of Homeland Security can better detect and flag high-risk shipments.
(d) It shall be the policy of the executive branch to support efforts that further the policies in this memorandum, including supporting a system of unrestricted and undistorted competition between United States and foreign merchants. Such efforts include:
(i) ensuring that rates charged for delivery of foreign-origin mail containing goods do not favor foreign mailers over domestic mailers;
(ii) setting rates charged for delivery of foreign-origin mail in a manner that does not favor postal operators over non-postal operators; and
(iii) ensuring the collection of advance electronic customs data.
Sec. 3. Relations with the UPU. (a) The United States must seek reforms to the UPU that promote the policies outlined in this memorandum. Such reforms shall provide for:
(i) a system of fair and nondiscriminatory rates for goods that promotes unrestricted and undistorted competition; and
(ii) terminal dues rates that:
(A) fully reimburse the USPS for costs to the same extent as domestic rates for comparable services;
(B) avoid a preference for inbound foreign small packages containing goods that favors foreign mailers over domestic mailers; and
(C) avoid a preference for inbound foreign small packages containing goods that favors postal operators over private-sector entities providing transportation services.
(b) If negotiations at the UPU’s September 2018 Second Extraordinary Congress in Ethiopia fail to yield reforms that satisfy the criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the United States will consider taking any appropriate actions to ensure that rates for the delivery of inbound foreign packages satisfy those criteria, consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 4. Actions by the Secretary. (a) The Secretary shall notify the Director General of the UPU of the policies and intentions of the United States described in this memorandum.
(b) The Secretary or his designee shall, consistent with 39 U.S.C. 407(b)(1), seek agreement on future Convention texts that comport with the policies of this memorandum in meetings of the UPU, including at the September 2018 Extraordinary Congress.
(c) No later than November 1, 2018, the Secretary shall submit to the President a report summarizing the steps being taken to implement this memorandum. If the Secretary determines that sufficient progress on reforms to promote compatibility of the Acts of the UPU with the policy of this memorandum is not being achieved, the Secretary shall include recommendations for future action, including the possibility of adopting self‑declared rates.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The Secretary is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
DONALD J. TRUMP
He actually tries to keep promises in spite of never-ending attack.
Amazon and China have been ripping off the USPS with very distorted low postal rates that put American companies at a Big disadvantage.
Essentially, U.S. citizens are subsidizing the U.S. Postal Service's lose of revenue because of the sweetheart deal Amazon gets to ship goods from China well below actual Postal Service cost.
Trump is ending Bezos abuse of our postal service.
Now.
Now he’s gone and done it. The Washington Post will start writing bad stories about the President.
He has focus and COJONES!
I’m sure some federal judge is preparing their nationwide injunction to stop this as we speak
The USPS since 2011 is the to blame, not China.
Take a walk down memory lane:
***
>>>>The USPS since 2011 is the to blame, not China.<<<<
See #5
... Who was prez then ?
USPS ripoff deal occured under Obola who happened to be under the influence of Bezos and China.
So like I said.
Trump is trying to end that sh!t.
Now.
President Trump making America great again!
Trump has mentioned this ‘tax assist’, that Amazon gets, several times.
Wouldn’t ALL businesses like this kind of nice, taxpayer funded pricing break?
It it infuriates hubby, when he sees USPS drivers out, on Sunday.
Their jeeps are full of nothing but Amazon boxes.
Compliments of OUR tax $$$$.
I hear Amazon now has an air fleet and cargo/shipping container branch.
I imagine their routes are China.
(What’s in their cargo?)
we need him to focus on a special counsel or hillary/comey/ rosenstien et al. NOW. Quickly. He seems frozen into inaction on their abuse of process and we need to abuse little process of our own.
Jane, That’s a fact and a very good national security question...
What are the customs protocol for ensuring parcel safety of the Millions of Amazon packages shipped over from China??
RE: General, Postal Regulatory (Trump vs Amazon!), Jane Long wrote:
I hear Amazon now has an air fleet and cargo/shipping container branch.
I imagine their routes are China.
(What’s in their cargo?)
Trump is in a terrible bind now that investigations have shifted to NY Trump business financial transactions.
This is what HRC, Dems, the left have wanted the whole time.
It’s become “Q”uite evident, there is no plan to trust.
How ever well he manage?
I was wondering when the Post would be fed up and start bad mouthing DJT.
we must retaliate with our own special counsel now and fight fire with fire.
I know someone who works for the post office, and she says the revenue they get from Amazon is not nearly enough to cover the vastly increased volume of bulky packages they handle as a result of Amazon.
“....UPU’s September 2018 Second Extraordinary Congress in Ethiopia...”
I guess the fancy places were all booked up.
——in many cases not fully reimbursed by the foreign postal operator for the cost of delivering foreign-origin letter post items-—
I order stuff on ebay that actually comes quickly out of China/hong Kong.
I bought som wash bottles and empty ink cartridges sourced from China. Two wash bottles cost $1.53 delivered by USPO. On the envelope is a customs /postage receipt indicating $0 postage was paid to the Chinese postal syatem. In effect China is apparently receiving mail to the USA that has the required customs label and for which no postage is paid. The USPO receives the package and delivers it for in essance $0.
I’m glad to see this go in effect. I hope I have enought of the wash bottles. They are some made in the USA but you must buy 24.
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