Good info.
The number I have not seen is: What % of US manufacturing production depends on at least one necessary* or functional* component that comes from China? This includes tools and dies used to make the product or a component in it.
In a pandemic, perhaps it is better to ask that question but as follows: What % of US manufacturing production depends on at least one necessary* or functional* imported component? Again, this includes tools and dies used to make the product or a component in it.
*For example, a plastic logo might be made in China, or made with a mold made in China. However, it is not functionally necessary (except to the Sales Dept!), and could perhaps be quickly replaced with a printed adhesive label that a US printer could provide - assuming their machinery is US made!
Some items like plastic totes are made in the USA, but are the tools they are made with made here?
And so on.
A lot of consumer products are NOT necessary or “immediately necessary”, so efforts can be made to focus on, say, life critical items 1st. I think most manufacturers would voluntarily comply, but as much as I hate to say it, this could literally become a martial law type situation. Thank God we (at least for now) do not have any of these would-be dictators on the left for our President.
IDK. Haven’t seen it yet. And I think we should have if China is that much of a bottleneck.
There’s been a lot of advance towards other suppliers because of the “trade war”.
Maybe China still has that pull, maybe it doesn’t.
When I consider how much junk and stuff most people own, we should be able to manage quite well by not buying from China for a while.
It’s time to learn to be resourceful and fix things and improvise again.
Garage sales are great places to find good slightly or never used things. If we could just et over our *Gotta have the latest and greatest* fetish.
“A lot of consumer products are NOT necessary or “immediately necessary””
I was thinking the same - in that regard we have a huge portion of our economy which could ‘go away’ tomorrow, and other than a bunch of screaming kids (on one union guy here), the country wouldn’t miss a beat. Kind of a reset to get us back to making what we need. We may be able to go at least a decade by cannibalizing hardware, and putting it to essential needs...perhaps even long enough to get us back towards self-sufficiency, at least on essentials.
Even something like phones. I held out for several years with my flip-phone, while everyone else moved to smart phones. Needless to say, flip-phones are likely much easier to produce than smart phones (although still a huge effort)...so don’t be surprised to see them pop up again.
I think you might be counting angels dancing on a pin.
That certainly would be interesting, but I am pretty sure when the ships stop showing up, everything is going to be upset.