He argues that the way it currently works costs the USPS “a fortune” and allows the e-commerce giant to avoid paying its fair share of taxes.
Trump reportedly wants Amazon to pay more in shipping costs to the USPS, according to a recent report by Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman.
President Donald Trump wants Amazon to increase the amount it pays to the US Postal System for its shipping needs instead of using it “as their Delivery Boy,” according to a recent report from Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman.
Trump has reignited his criticism campaign against Jeff Bezos and Amazon in recent weeks, taking to Twitter to argue that the e-commerce giant takes advantage of the USPS’ delivery rounds by mixing its packages in with the rest. He’s also said that Amazon doesn’t pay its fair share in taxes, and according to Vanity Fair, he wants Amazon to pay the USPS more in shipping costs.
This would effectively solve two issues Trump has with Amazon: That the company doesn’t pay its fair share of taxes, and that the USPS actually loses “a fortune” because of its deliveries, as he tweeted on Monday:
Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country…not a level playing field!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2018
Trump doesn’t seem interested in the counter-argument some have shared that Amazon might have helped reinvigorate the postal service after it lost some steam due to e-mail. One of the people arguing that point was Trump’s top economic advisor Gary Cohn, who no longer serves the President.
White House advisers are now encouraging Trump to cancel Amazon’s cloud computing services contract with the Pentagon or to push attorneys in red states to look into Amazon’s practices, according to Vanity Fair. There have been attempts to push for legislation that would modify postmasters’ schedules, forcing online retailers to pay more shipping costs, but that hasn’t gone past Congress.
