> He writes, "Essentially, U.S. shippers are partially paying higher shipping rates to make up for the hit the USPS takes giving subsidies to the Chinese." Yea

> He writes, "Essentially, U.S. shippers are partially paying higher shipping rates to make up for the hit the USPS takes giving subsidies to the Chinese." Yeah, but why?? What is the intent of this program? Is it some kind of global trade "kick-back" in exchange for something else or is it just a dumb idea? Even the audit doesn't address the reason for this bilateral agreement made in 2011. Moreover, even if the program "makes money" for the postal service it comes at the expense of hurting competitiveness of domestic mail-order. There must be some other side to the story, right? Protectionism is harmful in itself, but this seems like the exact opposite: active harm to domestic business in favor of Chinese business.