The US Postal Service is weighing higher fees on domestic packages

• The US Postal Service wants to charge higher fees for domestic shipping, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
• The changes would go into effect from October 8 and end on December 27, according to the report.
• The move is meant to help offset increased costs incurred during the pandemic and ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.

The US Postal Service says it plans to charge higher fees for domestic shipping ahead of the holiday season to help offset increased costs incurred during the pandemic and for the upcoming holiday shopping season, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A USPS spokesperson told The Journal it will be the first time the agency will have established surcharges during the holiday season. The fees would go into effect on October 8 and end December 27, according to the report, and would range from 24 cents to $1.50 on some USPS package services, but won't apply to regular mail or international shipments.

It's not immediately clear whether businesses will pass the higher fees on to customers by charging higher prices for shipping. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company won't be providing comment on how they plan to handle the surcharges.

Other shipping companies like FedEx and UPS have already implemented higher surcharges in recent months, The Journal reported.

The US Postal Service is a government agency funded by the revenue it earns from stamps and other products and services, not taxpayer dollars. The agency reported losing $2.2 billion in the second quarter of this year.

Business Insider previously reported, that the agency saw an accelerated reduction in first-class mail volume, which added to financial trouble that stemmed from 2006 legislation that required the postal service to fund 75 years of employee pensions and health benefits in advance.

The postal service currently has $160 billion in debt due to those obligations, The Washington Post reported.

President Donald Trump has also opposed measures to help USPS. The Washington Post reported in April that Trump said he would not sign the CARES Act stimulus package into law if it included a bailout for the postal service. Trump's position toward the postal service is seen as an overall attempt to hamstring the agency ahead of the November presidential election.