Shares of Amazon.com took a minor hit this morning after President Trump criticized the U.S. Postal Service for giving the e-commerce giant a low rate on package delivery–and suggested it should raise its rates. The stock fell to a low of $1,178.45 a share in early-morning trading, compared to $1,186.10 a share at yesterday’s close.
At around 8 a.m. ET this morning, Trump tweeted: “Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer?”
It’s unclear what brought on the tweet, or why Trump—who runs the government–couldn’t simply call up the postmaster general and ask. Trump does have a point, though: A Citigroup analysis earlier this year found that each Amazon package gets the equivalent of a $1.46 subsidy from the post office, the Wall Street Journal reported. The special rate, WSJ notes, is likely due to a pricing quirk in federal law, which hasn’t kept pace with the growing percentage of package delivery versus letters and envelopes.
Amazon recently touted a record holiday shopping season, although it did not release exact figures on packages shipped.
Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
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