Chapter 11 International Trade In Forest Products

The 21”’ century continues a trend of rapid growth in both international trade of forest products and a concern for forests. These two trends are connected. Forces causing trade growth are linked to the loss of native forest resources in some countries and the accumulation of nonnative forest resources in other countries. Factors increasing trade include relaxation of trade barriers, income growth, and improvements in wood growing, harvest, and manufacturing technologies. But environmental concerns are increasing as consumer preferences change, and as native forests recede and plantation forests become more prominent. Efforts to address environmental concerns often involve changes in trade policies. The effects of these changes can be evaluated with trade models. In this chapter, we describe the context of forest products trade and major policy issues, explain three approaches to policy modeling, and present three applications of partial equilibrium modeling of trade policies.