James Packard
The President Is Hitting Amazon With Some Claims That Are Flat Wrong
President Donald Trump's tweet about Amazon is full of false claims, and it follows reports the president is ready to go after the company.
LEARN MOREApril 5, 2018
President Donald Trump has been taking a lot of swings at Amazon lately, notably in his tweets. He claims the company costs the U.S. Postal Service a fortune.
But it doesn't. In fact, the USPS makes money from shipping Amazon packages. It's one of the few bright spots for the post office.
The USPS lost $2.7 billion overall last year, according to financial reports. But its package-delivery service brought in $19.5 billion. Amazon and other private shippers contributed $7 billion of those $19.5 billion, though it's not clear how much of that comes from Amazon alone.
The USPS ships about 40 percent of Amazon's packages. The president's arguments do shine a light on the idea, though, that the Postal Service could be making more money off Amazon and other private shippers. According to Citigroup, on average the USPS charges $1.46 below market rates for delivery.
