How The USPS Made China Great Again (Patreon)

How The USPS Made China Great Again

The USPS lies at the heart of the Chinese e-commerce boom, but it's also the carrier of choice for online drug dealers. Find out why in Cheddar's video: https://youtu.be/3vFRcgu1xr8 Support me on Patreon to get early access to my future videos: https://www.patreon.com/business_casual Join me at BC's subreddit and on social media: Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/businesscasual Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/business.casual.yt Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusinessCasual0 46th video of the Behind the Business Series. The rise of Chinese manufacturing has in large part been driven by the emergence of e-commerce in the Western world. Developed economies in Europe and North America created huge demand for cheap goods and China was more than happy to deliver. But while "free shipping" might be a ubiquitous term today on almost every online store, what made that possible is an obscure international organization. It turns out that China owes its immense success to a branch of the UN very few people know even exist. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) sets the rates between individual countries, which fulfill each other's mail. The UPU considers China to be a developing country on par with Jamaica and Serbia, which is why it gives Chinese packages coming into the US very cheap rates. In fact, the UPU-mandated rates are so low that the USPS loses $1.10 on every package it delivers for China Post. This is essentially a subsidy by US taxpayers to Chinese manufacturers, and while America got a great deal (very cheap products) it did sacrifice local manufacturing along the way. Under the kind patronage of Nagabhushanam Peddi, Dan Supernault, Samuel Patterson, James Gallagher, Brett Gmoser & Roman Badalyan.