Impact of U.S. forest products consumption, imports, and exports on foreign timber harvests.

Abstract

The U.S. has historically been a net importer of wood and paper products. During the 1990’s, the U.S. trade deficit widened, implying an increasing U.S. impact on timber harvests in foreign supply regions. An analysis was made of historical and projected trends in U.S. consumption and trade in terms of the roundwood volume required to make products consumed and traded. Results show that historically, the U.S. has increased its net imports and that the estimated harvest of roundwood overseas to make imports to the U.S. has increased faster than the estimated reductions in overseas harvest due to exports of U.S. products overseas. However, Draft projections from the USDA Forest Service RPA Timber Assessment indicate net imports may slowly decrease and level off after 2010 and remain level through 2050. Likewise, the net roundwood harvest overseas associated with our net imports may decrease and remain stable through 2050.

Citation

Durbak, Irene; Skog, Ken. 2001. Impact of U.S. forest products consumption, imports, and exports on foreign timber harvests. Proceedings of the 2000 Society of American Foresters national convention, Washington, DC, November 16-20, 2000. Bethesda, MD : Society of American Foresters, c2001: Pages 513-514.