Economic impact of Covid-19
Stuff is about to get more expensive.
Supply and demand. It is being reported that China's factories may not re-open until May 1.
Cheap imports will vanish from the marketplace, replaced by more expensive domestic products.
That may sound good on the surface but understand that very few industries have the ability to ramp up to replace the market vacuum left when the imports halt.
As we learned from the Obama era ammo shortage, supply cannot be infinitely elastic because you can only run 3 shifts a day before you need an extra production line. That involves buildings and machinery and employees that will take many years of production to amortize their costs and make the investment feasible. If the plant owner believes he has possibly only a few months or a year to recoup costs and has any sense, he won't make an investment guaranteed to run him into the ground when cheap imports return and flood the market. Keep in mind, this manufacturer is now paying more too, for everything that goes into their product and everything required to keep the business operating.
Because of shortages, the already higher cost of domestic products rises even more, be cause people who really need the product will have little recourse but to pay it.
So even if you personally buy NOTHING stamped "made in China" my hunch is a prolonged shutdown of Chinese production and shipping will be felt by you in some way... probably a very uncomfortable way.
We derisively call Walmart "China mart" but think for a sec about how many Walmarts in smaller communities have put all the independent local stores out of business. Those Walmarts are now not uncommonly the only point of general supply for a significant distance... with the next nearest town often in the same situation. Are those Walmarts going to be able to keep the doors open long without re-supply? What happens if they close or simply run out of commodities? I would wager that will get some people's attention, quite an unwelcome surprise.
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