A WORLD OF EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES

摘要

The U.S. wood household furniture trade deficit was about $2.5 billion when Wood & Wood Products began regularly receiving quarterly statistics on imports and exports. The year was 1989. Taiwan, not China, was the low-wage country that shipped the most furniture to the United States. In fact, China was a virtual non-factor on the furniture import scene because it had not yet joined the World Trade Organization. What a difference 16 years makes. As W&WP reported last month, U.S. imports of wood and upholstered furniture, components and other secondary household wood products soared to a record $15.9 billion in 2004. The nation's upward-spiraling furniture trade deficit reached $14.5 billion.