I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5524 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to require the United States Postal 

Service to establish rates for delivery of inbound international mail that 

do not discriminate between foreign and domestic mailers, to review 

foreign practices with respect to the exchange of e-commerce goods 

with the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2018 

Mr. MARCHANT (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, and Mr. ROSS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 

Means, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to require the United 

States Postal Service to establish rates for delivery of 

inbound international mail that do not discriminate between foreign and domestic mailers, to review foreign 

practices with respect to the exchange of e-commerce 

goods with the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. LIMITATION ON THE AUTHORITY OF SEC2 RETARY OF STATE WITH RESPECT TO INTER3 NATIONAL POSTAL AGREEMENTS. 

4 Subsection (b)(1) of section 407 of title 39, United 

5 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary of State shall be responsible 

7 for formulation, coordination, and oversight of foreign pol8 icy related to international postal services and other inter9 national delivery services and shall have the power to con10 clude postal treaties, conventions, and amendments re11 lated to international postal services and other inter12 national delivery services, except that the Secretary may 

13 not conclude any treaty, convention, or other international 

14 agreement (including any regulation of the Universal 

15 Postal Union binding on the United States) if such treaty, 

16 convention, or agreement would— 

17 ‘‘(A) with respect to any competitive product, 

18 grant an undue or unreasonable preference to the 

19 Postal Service, a private provider of international 

20 postal or delivery services, or any other person; or 

21 ‘‘(B) require the Postal Service to establish a 

22 classification, rate, or fee for any postal service ex23 cept as provided in subsection (f).’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NONDISCRIMINATORY RATES FOR DELIVERY OF IN2 BOUND INTERNATIONAL MAIL GENERALLY. 

3 Subsection (c) of section 407 of title 39, United 

4 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in subsection (f), the Gov6 ernors shall, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 

7 36, establish reasonable and equitable classes of mail and 

8 reasonable and equitable rates of postage and fees for the 

9 transportation and delivery within the United States of 

10 documents and goods received from other countries. Such 

11 classifications, rates, and fees shall be regulated by the 

12 Postal Regulatory Commission in the same manner as 

13 comparable domestic classifications, rates, and fees, and 

14 shall be available to users of domestic postal services 

15 under the same terms and conditions as provided to for16 eign post offices and other entities tendering documents 

17 and goods from other countries to the Postal Service. 

18 ‘‘(2) The classifications, rates, and fees established 

19 by the Postal Service under this subsection and subsection 

20 (d) shall not discriminate between documents or goods re21 ceived from other countries based on the country of origin, 

22 the nationality of the sender, or the ownership or govern23 mental designation of the entity tendering the documents 

24 or goods to the Postal Service.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PREFERENTIAL RATES FOR INBOUND NON2 COMMERCIAL MAIL FROM DEVELOPING 

3 COUNTRIES. 

4 Section 407 of title 39, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(f)(1) Pursuant to subsection (b), the Secretary of 

7 State may conclude a treaty, convention, amendment, or 

8 other intergovernmental agreement that requires the Post9 al Service to provide preferential classifications, rates, or 

10 fees for the transportation and delivery within the United 

11 States of documents and goods received from other coun12 tries in accordance with this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(2) No classification, rate, or fee established under 

14 this subsection shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) apply to documents and goods sent from 

16 an industrialized country to the United States; 

17 ‘‘(B) apply to commercial goods sent to the 

18 United States from a country that exports such com19 mercial goods to the United States in quantities that 

20 have a significant competitive effect on business con21 cerns within the United States; 

22 ‘‘(C) discriminate between documents or goods 

23 received from a specific country based on the owner24 ship or governmental designation of the entity ten25 dering the documents or goods to the Postal Service; 

26 or 


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1 ‘‘(D) be effective for more than 4 years. 

2 ‘‘(3) At least 120 days prior to concluding negotia3 tions with respect to any treaty, convention, amendment, 

4 or other intergovernmental agreement (including any reg5 ulation of the Universal Postal Union binding on the 

6 United States Government) that proposes to establish a 

7 preferential classification, rate, or fee pursuant to para8 graph (1), the Secretary of State shall submit the pro9 posed classification, rate, or fee to the Postal Regulatory 

10 Commission for review together with a written statement 

11 explaining why it is in the foreign policy or national secu12 rity interest of the United States to provide such pref13 erence (provided that the Secretary may designate por14 tions that shall be kept confidential for reasons of foreign 

15 policy or national security for a period not exceeding 4 

16 years). 

17 ‘‘(4) Promptly after receiving a request under para18 graph (3), the Commission shall provide notice and an op19 portunity for public comment in conformance with the 

20 rulemaking requirements of section 553 of title 5, United 

21 States Code. The Commission may also provide for an evi22 dentiary hearing on the record if it considers such a hear23 ing necessary. In its review, the Commission shall deter24 mine whether the proposed classification, rate, or fee is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) reasonably calculated to achieve the for2 eign policy or national security objectives defined by 

3 the Secretary in a manner that is as consistent as 

4 possible with the national policies established in sub5 section (a); and 

6 ‘‘(B) consistent with the requirements of para7 graph (2) of this subsection. 

8 Unless the Commission determines that the proposed pref9 erential classification, rate, or fee must be disapproved, 

10 the Commission shall also provide an estimate of the mon11 etary value of the approved preference for each year for 

12 which the preference is to be effective. 

13 ‘‘(5) Within 90 days of receiving a request under 

14 paragraph (3), Commission shall issue a decision which 

15 approves, approves with modifications, or disapproves the 

16 proposed classification, rate, or fee. The Secretary shall 

17 ensure that each treaty, convention, or amendment con18 cluded under this section is consistent with the decision 

19 of the Commission. 

20 ‘‘(6) The Commission shall periodically determine the 

21 difference between the revenues received by the Postal 

22 Service pursuant to preferential classifications, rates, or 

23 fees approved under this subsection and the revenues that 

24 the Postal Service would have received in the absence of 

25 such classifications, rates, or fees. Such estimates shall be 


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1 included in the annual report provided by the Commission 

2 under section 3651(b). 

3 ‘‘(7) Within 3 months after the end of each Govern4 ment fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer to the Postal 

5 Service the revenues foregone due to such preferential 

6 rates, fees, or classifications in the previous fiscal year, 

7 as determined by the Commission, from funds appro8 priated to the Department of State for that purpose. 

9 ‘‘(8) Within 120 days from the enactment of this sec10 tion, the Commission shall promulgate (and may there11 after revise) such regulations as it deems necessary and 

12 proper to implement this subsection. In promulgating such 

13 regulations, the Commission shall take account of, but not 

14 be bound by the definitions of terms and other standards 

15 of the Universal Postal Union.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL POSTAL AGREEMENTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the implementation of para18 graph 407(b)(1) of title 39, United States Code, as 

19 amended by section 1, the Secretary of State may not con20 clude, approve, or otherwise agree to the Universal Postal 

21 Convention adopted by the Congress of the Universal 

22 Postal Union held in Istanbul in 2016. 

23 (b) APPLICATION.—This Act supersedes any postal 

24 treaties, conventions, and amendments related to inter25 national postal services and other international delivery 


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1 services (including any regulation of the Universal Postal 

2 Union binding on the United States Government) to which 

3 the United States is a party to the extent such postal trea4 ties, conventions, and amendments are inconsistent with 

5 this Act. 

6 SEC. 5. REPORT ON TRADE IN E-COMMERCE GOODS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce 

9 shall, in consultation with the Office of the United States 

10 Trade Representative and with other Federal agencies as 

11 appropriate, submit a report to the President and Con12 gress on the policies of foreign governments toward the 

13 transmission of e-commerce goods to or from the United 

14 States by means of international postal services and other 

15 international delivery services. 

16 (b) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report required in 

17 subsection (a) shall identify and analyze— 

18 (1) foreign subsidies, laws, or other govern19 mental programs that provide for foreign merchants 

20 unfair or unreasonable assistance in the sale of e21 commerce goods to consumers in the United States; 

22 (2) foreign subsidies, laws, or other govern23 mental programs that unfairly disadvantage United 

24 States merchants in the sale of e-commerce goods to 

25 consumers in other countries; and 


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1 (3) foreign laws and policies relating to the ex2 change of e-commerce goods which are inconsistent 

3 with the policies of the United States regarding 

4 international trade in services generally (section 

5 104A(a) of the Trade Act of 1974; 19 U.S.C. 

6 2114a(a)) and international postal agreements (sec7 tion 407(a) of title 39, United States Code) and 

8 which are detrimental to the interests of the domes9 tic or international operations of United States com10 panies. 

11 (c) PROPOSALS.—The report required in subsection 

12 (a) should propose appropriate steps that could be taken 

13 by the Secretary of Commerce, by other Federal agencies, 

14 or by Congress to remedy issues identified under sub15 section (b). Such steps may include proposals for— 

16 (1) remedial actions that may be taken by the 

17 United States alone; 

18 (2) modification of existing trade, postal, or 

19 other international agreements or development of 

20 new trade, postal, or other international agreements; 

21 (3) United States advocacy in international or22 ganizations; and 

23 (4) modification or improvement in the coordi24 nation of policies and positions among United States 

25 agencies. 


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1 (d) COUNTRIES COVERED.—The report required in 

2 subsection (a) may be limited to countries that, in the 

3 judgment of the Secretary of Commerce, have or soon will 

4 have a significant level of trade in e-commerce goods with 

5 the United States. 

6 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 This Act shall take effect on the date that is one year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, except for section 

9 4(a) which shall take effect on such date of enactment. 

Æ 


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