The funny thing is I can have the Chinese folks ship me machine tools directly from China for $1.79 yet I pay $13-$30 on avg deliveries from companies like Grizzly. /RANT 2 OFF
Thats because it is cheaper to ship an item from China, then it is to ship something across the US. Many years ago, in the early days of postage, the countries agreed that for international postage, the sending country only has to get it to the other country, then the receiving countries Post Office is responsible to get it to the individual. The theory was that the shipping in the various countries would somewhat even out. China subsidizes the cargo boats delivering the cargo, So all the Chinese shipper needs to do is get the item to the port, or one of several offices throughout the country. After that, it costs them nothing.
I do not know how they can ship an item from the US cheaper, I suspect it is part of the so called international trading zones, so they still get the same deal.
When I worked for DHL, they had a deal with HP, Dell, and a few others where they claim they broke even, or even lost some, but it kept the freight trucks fuller, which lowered overall costs. Was explained to me several times, but I never really understood the theory.