U.N. postal union clinches deal to keep U.S. in club

The U.N. agency coordinating postal systems worldwide on Wednesday reached a compromise to reform its fee structure, proposed by the United States, that would avert the Trump administration leaving the global network. The deal was agreed by consensus at the Universal Postal Union's emergency congress after two days of talks, with delegates standing to applaud.

The Trump administration served notice last October that it would leave in 12 months unless fee rates were changed so that importing countries did not lose money from distributing mail and packages from countries including China in the age of e-commerce. Under the phased agreement, high-volume importers of mail and packages would be allowed to begin imposing "self-declared rates" for distributing foreign mail from January 2021.

Countries with more than 75,000 tonnes in post imported annually - mainly the United States - may apply their self-declared new rates from July 2020, UPU officials said. "Let me assure you that if indeed this proposal as presented passes in its entirety today, the United States will be able to remain a member of the Universal Postal Union," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro who led the U.S. delegation, told the Geneva talks before the compromise proposal was accepted.

"It bridges the different views held by net postal exporters and net postal importers here in the room," he said. Navarro told reporters this week that the current system meant the U.S. Postal Service was effectively spending $300 million to $500 million to subsidise the cost of delivering imports, including goods mailed to the United States from China.

China's delegation, speaking shortly before the vote on Wednesday, backed the compromise, saying: "For China we have always been actively working with all the members and trying to find a positive solution and compromise in the spirit of UPU." UPU Director-General Bishar Hussein, who was due to give a news conference on Wednesday (1600 GMT), warned on Tuesday that any U.S. departure from the 193-member agency would be a "nightmare scenario", with delivery of global mail disrupted and U.S. stamps no longer being recognised abroad.

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