China has the ability to effectively bully the US into submission, for the simple fact that they OWN the majority of US manufacturers.
Don’t believe me? The absolute worst thing that will happen is that all of those chi-com controlled factories bashing out all of the consumer products for western firms get the order to stop shipping to the west, and the west, including the US will be powerless to do anything about it.
The chinese now control the means of production, and the free traders sold them the rope that they will strangle us with.
Yes, probably, but for now we still represent a huge percentage of the customers whose purchases support the continuation of that production. If we were to ban Chinese made goods tomorrow, and the rest of the West was to do the same, their economy would implode very rapidly. I'm not proposing that, but am saying that we still have time to right the ship. That period of grace won't last forever if we don't start acting to preserve our economy and way of life.