Information on the "origin" of US wood products exports: A review

The increasing globalization of the U.S. economy and the growing importance of the export market has resulted in a call for information by state utili zation specialists, resource managers, and others to help them assess the i mpact of the export market on their respective domestic economies, forest r esources, and wood products industries. This paper presents the results of a review of published nationwide data sources that purport to have informat ion on the state-of-origin of wood products exports. Both the availability and adequacy of the data were examined. Ultimately, five source documents w ere found to which all published export data could be traced: the Annual Su rvey of Manufactures, the Census of Manufactures, the Shipper's Export Decl aration, Ship Manifests, and the Canadian Customs Coding Form. All informat ion on the state-of-origin of U.S. wood products exports emanating from the se documents was found to be inadequate and deficient in one or more ways. Consequently, if states are to have a true assessment of the impact of expo rt trade on their domestic situation, either existing data collection effor ts must be greatly improved, new efforts must be initiated, or individual, specifically targeted, studies must be conducted.