The improvement in relations between the USA and China is also having a positive effect on Alaska's timber producers, as China lifts its ban on imports of American hardwood and softwood. The agreement has been reached for a period of 12 months.

Members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources are calling on the US Forest Service to resume logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest as well, in order to restore timber supplies to the market, address the housing shortage and boost construction. Alaska's timber industry, whose trade volume once reached 115 million US dollars a year, has benefited greatly from the improvement in relations between the USA and China.

In mid-November China resumed timber trade with the USA. As is well known, United States timber exports to China were very substantial, accounting for 40% of total US hardwood exports and 38% of total softwood exports. The General Administration of Customs revoked its decree of March 2025, which had suspended imports of unprocessed timber in connection with measures to contain a bark beetle infestation. The decision means that, from 12 November, timber companies in South-East Alaska that harvest timber across nearly 7 million hectares in the largest national forest in the USA – the Tongass National Forest – can once again export large volumes of timber to China.

The lifting of the export restrictions came after a meeting between the Chinese and US leaders in South Korea. Analysts hope that the "positive talks" could mark a restoration of relations and "calm" the trade war between the two countries..

According to Politico, a 10% tariff will still apply to timber as trade between China and the USA resumes. "This solution allows our members to resume working with Chinese customers," said Tessa Axelson, **Executive Director of the Alaska Forest Association, who thanked the Trump administration and Alaska's Congressional delegation for "focusing on this issue and seeking a solution".

Saw logs harvested in the Tongass forest and exported to China are loaded onto ships at the port on Prince of Wales Island. Alaska's timber industry is heavily dependent on selling timber abroad. The wood is exported mainly to China. The Tongass forest is one of the few national forests in the USA from which federal law permits the export of unprocessed logs. Elsewhere this practice is prohibited in order to protect local sawmills. This exemption has long sustained the timber economy of South-East Alaska, even as logging has declined and sawmills have closed. "This is extremely important for the members of our association," stresses Tessa Axelson, noting that the Chinese market has historically been one of the most important for Alaska's timber producers and loggers.

Industry leaders described the decision as a "lifeline" for Alaska's timber producers. "Without access to the Chinese market, our mills were in a dire situation," one of the business owners told Politico, stressing that it is impossible to sustain a business on domestic demand alone. Alaska's loggers point out: "The Tongass forest is still the only national forest where log exports are permitted, and so the Chinese market is essential to the industry's survival."

* The Tongass National Forest in South-East Alaska is the largest national forest in the USA, covering an area of 16.7 million acres (6,800,000 hectares; 68,000 km2). It is larger than 10 US states and 75 UN member states (Latvia, for example, covers 64,000 km2). Most of the forest area is what is known as temperate rainforest, sufficiently undisturbed to support many endangered and rare species of flora and fauna. The Tongass forest, managed by the United States Forest Service, takes in the islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords and glaciers, as well as the Coast Mountains; the border with Canada (British Columbia) runs along the Boundary Ranges ridge in the coastal mountains. The Forest Service headquarters is in Ketchikan. The local ranger district offices are in Craig, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell and Yakutat.

**The Alaska Forest Association (AFA) was founded on 6 March 1956, when a group of loggers met in Ketchikan with the aim of establishing an association. At the close of the meeting it was decided to join the Timber Operators Association, and a name was chosen – the S.E. Division of Timber Operators Association. In its first year of operation the group developed a workers' compensation programme. In 1957 the group withdrew from the Timber Operators Association and set up its own association – the Alaska Loggers Association. In 1960 the organisation voted to admit as full members those sawmills and pulp mills that were engaged in logging. At the same time an associate member category was created. The Association is one of the oldest in the state of Alaska and offers its members the opportunity to take part in programmes such as the Tongass Timber Trust (group health insurance), Alaska Loggers Retirement (a pension plan) and a public information programme that promotes the facts about the forest products industry. Over the past decade there have been many changes in the industry, which has created a need to broaden the association's scope of activity. The AFA no longer serves only "loggers", but all sectors of the forest industry. The board has been expanded to 24 members, and the organisation has been renamed the "Alaska Forest Association". These changes took effect on 1 January 1991.