USPS price reductions
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has argued that the price reductions that it will be required to introduce on 10 April – if not action is taken to extend the exigent surcharge – “will worsen the Postal Service’s financial condition by reducing revenue and increasing its net losses by approximately $2 billion per year”. In a statement issued by the USPS yesterday (25 February), Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan said: ““The exigent surcharge granted to the Postal Service last year only partially alleviated our extreme multi-year revenue declines resulting from the Great Recession, which exceeded $7 billion in 2009 alone.
“Removing the surcharge and reducing our prices is an irrational outcome considering the Postal Service’s precarious financial condition.”
The USPS statement added: “An order from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) requires the 4.3 percent exigent surcharge to be reversed after the Postal Service has collected surcharges totaling $4.6 billion. As outlined in a notice filed with the PRC today, that amount is expected to be reached by April 10th.”
If no Congressional or court action is taken to extend or make permanent the exigent surcharge, the following First-Class Mail mandated price reductions will come into effect:
- letters (1 oz): from 49 cents to 47 cents
- letters additional ounces: from 22 cents to 21 cents
- letters to all international destinations: from $1.20 t0 $1.15
- postcards: from 35 cents to 34 cents.
Commercial prices will also decrease. A complete listing of the new prices, effective April 10, is available at www.usps.com.
