Estimated lossed faced by the forestry sector – landowners, logging companies and sawmills – in 2020. Devastating wildfires and Hurricane Laura have played a part, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to significant losses. Since 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.

Value of forest product exported by the U.S., including logs and lumber, 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.

Value of U.S. forest product exports to China in 2018. The forest products relationship between China and the U.S. is complex. The U.S. sells logs and lumber to China; China uses the logs and lumber to produce finished wood products, such as furniture and hardwood flooring; and China exports these finished wood products to the world. Interestingly, the U.S. market is the leading destination for these exports.

Value of U.S. imports of wooden furniture and other wood products from China in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This raises an obvious question: Why doesn’t the U.S. simply make furniture and flooring? The answer is wages. The wage differential between U.S. and Chinese workers makes it more profitable to sell logs and lumber to China and then buy back finished wood products.