PORTLAND, Oregon — The timber industry in Oregon and across the country is battered from an unresolved trade war with China and the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrew Muhammad, professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Tennessee, formerly worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Resource Service on international trade issues. He said the U.S. provides raw timber materials to China and then buys back the finished products. But tariffs caused Oregon exports to China to drop 70% between 2017 and 2019. With an additional decrease in demand due to COVID-19, Muhammad reported the state’s connection to China is suffering.