Exchange rates, Canadian lumber imports, and United States prices: a time-series analysis

Abstract

Softwood lumber imports by the United States from Canada more than doubled during the past 10 years. The objective of this paper was to investigate two possible reasons for this change: (i) the increase in value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar, and (ii) the rise in the price of softwood lumber in the United States. The method used was time-series analysis, leading to measures of feedback and long-term multipliers between imports, exchange rate, and U.S. price. The results, based on monthly data from January 1974 to January 1986, suggested that 68% of the rise in Canadian imports during this period was due to the rise in the price of softwood lumber in the United States. The exchange rate, however, was not found to have a significant effect on imports. The findings also indicate that the increase in imports has not led to a decline in the price received by U.S. producers.