Latin American exports of solid wood products to the United States have not been as significant as would be expected, considering the great resource base existent in that region. Several tariff and non-tariff barriers have inhibited Latin American exports to North America. Two of the most important barriers are tariffs and transportation costs.

This study uses the effective protective rate approach and empirically estimates the level of effective protection afforded American producers of five solid wood products from Latin American imports by tariffs and transportation costs, and compares the relative importance of the two barriers, It also observes the behaviour of the protective structure relative to the degree of manufacturing of the solid wood products under study.

The estimates indicate that effective rates of protection are considerable larger than corresponding nominal rates. In addition, effective protection provided by transportation costs are between 2.5 and 10 times more important than the effective protection provided by tariffs. Finally, the estimates show that effective tariff protection for solid wood products does not escalate with degree of manufacturing, in contraposicion to studies carried out by economists over a wider spectrum of industries. On the other hand, the effective protection provided by transportation cost declines with degree of manufacturing, favoring the exports of manufactured solid wood products as opposed to exports of raw material or semi—processed intermediate inputs.