February 6, 2019

PRC Chairman Robert Taub

The Postal Regulatory Commission announced that it will host an off-the-record technical conference on February 15, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. in the Commission’s hearing room, which will be open to members of the public.  This might be the most highly-followed PRC technical conference in a long time because it is directly responsive to President Trump, who in October announced that the US will withdraw from the Universal Postal Union because “sufficient progress has not been made on reforming terms” of the postal treaty and that it would begin the withdrawal process while seeking to “negotiate bilateral and multilateral agreements that resolve the problems.”

The technical conference is a follow-on to the USPS proposal last year to move certain international letters and small packets from the market dominant to competitive category.  The PRC announced conditional approval of that transfer “pending the proposal, review, approval, and implementation of new prices.”

The PRC announcement of the conference specifically refers to the President’s concerns:

The Commission notes that President Donald J. Trump has outlined policies that should inform the Postal Service when establishing these new prices. Specifically, the Presidential Memorandum stated that it is the policy of the executive branch to support “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; [and] (ii) setting rates charged for delivery of foreign-origin mail in a manner that does not favor postal operators over non-postal operators[.]” Presidential Memorandum, section 2(d).

The PRC order makes clear the task before the USPS: “In particular, the Postal Service should be prepared to discuss whether these prices will be of general or limited applicability (and if limited applicability, what limitations would apply) and the methodology it plans to use to establish prices that are consistent with the requirements of 39 U.S.C. § 3633(a) and with consideration for the policies outlined in the Presidential Memorandum.”

The e-commerce news site Ecommerce Bytes described the PRC action as a sign of progress for U.S. merchants: “The USPS is getting one step closer to making small packets from overseas more expensive, something for which many small sellers in the US have advocated.”