USPS international letter rates not available

[ravenchorus]

Apologies if this is not the right place to ask this.

I'm based in the US and I'm attempting to get USPS international letter rates via the API but am not able to retrieve them. Domestic letter rates come back just fine for US addresses but for international addresses the cheapest rate I can get back is USPS First-Class Package International.

I've had a ticket open with USPS API support for months and they've been absolutely useless.

I'm testing using an origination address in Portland, Oregon and a destination in Dubai, UAE. A 2 ounce 6x6x0.5 package gives me a rate of $13.

When I use the USPS-supplied XML HTTP request in a browser or via curl, I get:

<Service ID="14">
	<Pounds>0</Pounds>
	<Ounces>5</Ounces>
	<Machinable>True</Machinable>
	<MailType>LETTER</MailType>
	<Container>ENVELOPE</Container>
	<Size>REGULAR</Size>
	<Width>.5</Width>
	<Length>9</Length>
	<Height>6</Height>
	<Girth>0</Girth>
	<Country>UNITED ARAB EMIRATES</Country>
	<Postage>5.83</Postage>
	<ExtraServices />
	<ValueOfContents>10.00</ValueOfContents>
	<InsComment>SERVICE</InsComment>
	<SvcCommitments>Varies by destination</SvcCommitments>
	<SvcDescription>First-Class Mail&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;&amp;#174;&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; International Large Envelope</SvcDescription>
	<MaxDimensions>Max. length 15", height 12" or thickness 3/4"</MaxDimensions>
	<MaxWeight>4</MaxWeight>
</Service>

Here's the URL used to retrieve the above. Replace "XXXXXXXXXXXX" with your USPS API login.

http://production.shippingapis.com/ShippingApi.dll?API=IntlRateV2&XML= <IntlRateV2Request USERID="XXXXXXXXXXXX"><Revision>2</Revision><Package ID="0"><Pounds>0</Pounds><Ounces>5</Ounces><Machinable>True</Machinable><MailType>LETTER</MailType><ValueOfContents>10</ValueOfContents><Country>United Arab Emirates</Country><Container>Envelope</Container><Size>Regular</Size><Width>.5</Width><Length>9</Length><Height>6</Height><Girth>0</Girth><OriginZip>22201</OriginZip><CommercialFlag>N</CommercialFlag><ExtraServices><ExtraService>1</ExtraService></ExtraServices></Package></IntlRateV2Request>

I suspect this is an issue with ActiveShipping because the rate is available via that URL but not in my application. My first thought was that letter rates are simply not used by the gem except that I am able to get them for US addresses.

Is this a bug, a known limitation, or something else? I'm happy to provide further details as needed.