Trump administration to pull U.S. out of U.N. postal treaty

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is threatening to remove the United States from a long-running postal agreement, saying it puts domestic shippers at a disadvantage in favor of other countries that receive discounts, including China.

USA Today reported 192 countries are part of the Universal Postal Union, which dates to 1984. President Donald Trump's administration said the treaty has proven unfair to U.S. business because Chinese shippers pay 20 cents for every $1 American companies pay to distribute packages in the United States.

"The strategy is simply to stop the harm being done through a multilateral organization," a White House official told The Wall Street Journal. "This is not about China. It's about unfair rates."

The union is a United Nations agency that subsidizes global postal rates in developing nations, including China, despite the strength of its economy. The official who spoke to the Journal said the U.S. spends $300 million annually on discounted postage.

Jay Timmons, the president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said in a statement that he agreed with the move.

"Manufacturers and manufacturing workers in the United States will greatly benefit from a modernized and far more fair arrangement with China," Timmons said in a statement.