This article reminds me of the mini-trade war between Uruguay and Brazil in the 1990s (I was very young so I don't remember exactly when it was). Brazil decided

This article reminds me of the mini-trade war between Uruguay and Brazil in the 1990s (I was very young so I don't remember exactly when it was). Brazil decided to close the land border for 2 weeks. In the meantime, Uruguay's dairy exports sat on the border waiting... The products expired, and the government had to bail out the milk cooperative. They still had a free-trade agreement. Agreements don't mean anything except in the US, Canada, parts of the European Union, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and a couple of other countries. Non-tariff barriers are way pretty effective in slowing trade: US could easily block any food imports until pests are no longer an issue in Chinese food supply chain. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/voracious-pest-threatens-chinas-crops-could-boost-need-for-imports.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/voracious-pest-threatens-chi... US could easily block any products from factories that haven't passed US safety inspections. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pharmaceuticals-china/eu-officials-clash-with-chinese-firm-on-drug-factory-inspection-idUSKCN1LS25J https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pharmaceuticals-ch...