Canada-United States Trade in Forest Products

Book excerpt: This book illuminates the major economic and political factors that have led to the development of a particular pattern of trade in forest products, and it examines and compares the legal structures within which this trade takes place. Standard economic and political methods of analysis are used to study the history of this trade, including such recent developments as the Free Trade Agreement. Several of the chapters focus on two recent trade disputes involving Canadian exports of shakes and shingles and of softwood lumber to the United States. These disputes are instructive for understanding not only the politics of trade but also important economic issues such as the measurement and impact of timber subsidies. In addition, the authors consider the factors affecting foreign market share, and the burden of tariffs and export taxes.