4 ms·

How many products are directly shipped from China through the postal service? The answer is very few. This will have little to no impact on trade volumes overal

How many products are directly shipped from China through the postal service? The answer is very few. This will have little to no impact on trade volumes overall, since they're largely moved as freight.

EpicEng 7y ago
It's not about having a huge impact on trade volumes. It will have an impact on small stuff and drop shipping. Why should we stay in a bad deal that was made fifty years ago when circumstances were completely different?
- matthewowen 7y ago
  Oh, I actually agree that the system isn't doing what it supposed to and that we should exit it here. I just don't think it will have that much effect on most consumers, because the volume is comparatively tiny. That's all I'm saying.
magduf 7y ago
AliExpress survives entirely from these low postal rates, and a chunk of Ebay business does too.
- matthewowen 7y ago
  Yes, that's exactly my point. It's a niche, and that niche is much much much smaller than the overall category of "things that were imported from China". And further to the point of impact on trade volumes: a good number of those purchases will instead just happen on amazon or wherever, and will still be of products originating in China: they'll just take a different path into the country and potentially be more expensive.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - magduf 7y ago
    No, it's really not a "niche". By your logic, the entire postal system is a "niche" in the overall economy. That doesn't mean you should ignore it. Stuff shipped from China through the postal system isn't a "niche", it's an enormous volume of mail, and it's the very reason our postal rates are so damn high. >they'll just take a different path into the country and potentially be more expensive. How exactly is this a problem??!! The whole problem is that it's unfair trade for postal customers to be subsidizing people buying stuff on AliExpress. If someone wants to import shipping containers full of cheap Chinese stuff and resell it within the US, that's fine: it's way more efficient and ecological than drop-shipping from China. It doesn't work right now because the postal rates are so horrendous for domestic postage, but if we stop subsidizing Chinese shippers, then that should change.
    - matthewowen 7y ago
      I didn't say it was a problem! I think it's a good change. But the parent suggested it would have a broader impact on trade volumes, which it won't. Why are you all so defensive about this?

EpicEng 7y ago

It's not about having a huge impact on trade volumes. It will have an impact on small stuff and drop shipping. Why should we stay in a bad deal that was made fifty years ago when circumstances were completely different?

matthewowen 7y ago
Oh, I actually agree that the system isn't doing what it supposed to and that we should exit it here. I just don't think it will have that much effect on most consumers, because the volume is comparatively tiny. That's all I'm saying.

magduf 7y ago

AliExpress survives entirely from these low postal rates, and a chunk of Ebay business does too.

matthewowen 7y ago
Yes, that's exactly my point. It's a niche, and that niche is much much much smaller than the overall category of "things that were imported from China". And further to the point of impact on trade volumes: a good number of those purchases will instead just happen on amazon or wherever, and will still be of products originating in China: they'll just take a different path into the country and potentially be more expensive.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- magduf 7y ago
  No, it's really not a "niche". By your logic, the entire postal system is a "niche" in the overall economy. That doesn't mean you should ignore it. Stuff shipped from China through the postal system isn't a "niche", it's an enormous volume of mail, and it's the very reason our postal rates are so damn high. >they'll just take a different path into the country and potentially be more expensive. How exactly is this a problem??!! The whole problem is that it's unfair trade for postal customers to be subsidizing people buying stuff on AliExpress. If someone wants to import shipping containers full of cheap Chinese stuff and resell it within the US, that's fine: it's way more efficient and ecological than drop-shipping from China. It doesn't work right now because the postal rates are so horrendous for domestic postage, but if we stop subsidizing Chinese shippers, then that should change.
  - matthewowen 7y ago
    I didn't say it was a problem! I think it's a good change. But the parent suggested it would have a broader impact on trade volumes, which it won't. Why are you all so defensive about this?