ABSTRACT
Global demand for durable products, that is, goods that yield utility over time such as furniture, floors, refrigerators, cars, or mobile phones, depends on political and socioeconomic factors, such as trade patterns, exchange rates, resource availability, employment, and affluence (UN 2005; FAO 2009). At present, sizeable markets exist globally for these products (e.g., European Union [EU], China, India and Brazil) with the United States being the largest, single uniform market that includes some of the most affluent consumers. Despite recent rhetoric of domestic protectionism in the United States (Herbst 2009), the availability of such a unique and dynamic consumer-oriented market combined with liberal trade policies (WTO 2008) has made the United States an attractive outlet for goods and services created in all corners of the world. Thanks primarily to comparative cost advantages that some mostly developing countries have over the United States and historically favorable exchange rates, the United States has been the leading net importer of goods and services for the last 40 years with the nation’s trade deficit in 2011 settling at $560 billion (down from a record $753 billion in 2006; U.S. Census Bureau 2012). However, in line with the shifting economic balance of the world’s regions, where developing markets like China,
CONTENTS
4.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................77 4.2 Trends in Raw Materials ..................................................................................................... 79 4.3 Global Production and Consumption ...............................................................................80 4.4 Globalization and Secondary Wood Products Industry ................................................ 82
4.4.1 How Does Globalization/Localization Play Out in the Secondary Sector? ......83 4.5 Regional Production and Consumption ...........................................................................85
