Our lives in the US would be significantly worse if China did not exist, and if trade between our countries were cut off we would lose manufactured goods, machi

Our lives in the US would be significantly worse if China did not exist, and if trade between our countries were cut off we would lose manufactured goods, machinery, and textiles. China on the other hand would lose food, ores and minerals, and fuel. More importantly for China, without the trade income from the US it would struggle to maintain import levels of all products including food from the rest of the world. In November of 2022 Chinese leaders found the limit of their control over Chinese people, and were so worried about rebellions that they precipitously dismantled almost all covid protections. Data suggest this killed 2 million people after China had previously exhibited among the lowest covid fatality rates in the world. The internal politics related to China’s recent economic decline remain very muted, for now. One of the causes of this slowdown is the increased focus on geopolitical competition at the expense of economic relationships with the rest of the world. At some point, further economic decline that also results in food shortages, would seriously test its internal political stability. A rapid decline in quality of life would challenge the US political system, too, especially with democracy in the US looking less resilient than it did 20 years ago, but food security would be much less of an issue.