The Postal Service will be forced to reduce prices for Forever stamps and some other mailing products April 10 if congressional or a court action doesn’t allow USPS to continue an exigent surcharge.
In a Feb. 25 news release, the Postal Service said this mandatory action will worsen its financial condition by reducing revenue and increasing net losses by approximately $2 billion per year.
The price reductions are required because the Postal Regulatory Commission has ordered USPS to reverse a 4.3 percent exigent surcharge that has been in place since January 2014.
“The exigent surcharge granted to the Postal Service only partially alleviated our extreme multi-year revenue declines resulting from the Great Recession, which exceeded $7 billion in 2009 alone,” said PMG Megan J. Brennan. “Removing the surcharge and reducing our prices is an irrational outcome considering the Postal Service’s precarious financial condition.”
The surcharge removal means the price of sending a 1-ounce First-Class Mail letter will fall to 47 cents from 49 cents.
Letters with additional ounces will drop to 21 cents (from 22 cents), letters to international destinations will fall to $1.15 (from $1.20) and postcard prices will be 34 cents (from 35 cents).
The news release has more information.