American timber industry crippled by double whammy of trade war and COVID-19

[TexasTowelie]

The forestry sector – landowners, logging companies and sawmills – have lost an estimated US$1.1 billion in 2020. Devastating wildfires and Hurricane Laura have played a part, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to significant losses. If workers are required to stay home, then no trees will be felled or logs sawed into lumber.

These losses have been exacerbated and amplified because of a longstanding trade war that has severely curbed the sale of U.S. forestry products to foreign markets, particularly China.

I am a professor of economics with a specialty in international agricultural trade, trade policy and global food demand. My work at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is informed by my nearly 10 years as a senior economist with USDA researching international trade issues affecting agriculture and forestry.

The US-China connection

Forest product exports in the U.S., including logs and lumber, were valued at $9.6 billion in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest products are the third leading U.S. agricultural export sector after soybeans and corn. In 2018, China accounted for nearly $3 billion of U.S. forest product exports.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/american-timber-industry-crippled-by-double-whammy-of-trade-war-and-covid-19-147720

[Worried2020]

1. Well - USA's "America First" initiative has sorta backfired methinks . . .

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Many nations deliberately avoid using the USA as a reliable supplier anymore.

China stepped up to the plate, big time -

including an alliance of nations in a trade pact that specifically excludes the US of A

smooth move ex-lax



W

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. The ripple effects of trumPutin and his GOP enablers will damage many industries.

Exporting manufacturing overseas, destroying unions, and depressing wages is not a good way to promote a robust economy that can withstand a pandemic slowdown. Toss in an incompetent fool who thinks China pays the tariffs against imported goods and we're in trouble.

Trump and the GOP are addressing the climate crisis in the same way they've addressed covid-19 -- denial of facts coupled with actions that exacerbate the problems.