2 ms·

Imports from China are $0.5T. US economy is $25T. So the US imports 2% of its GDP from China. Rounding error.

• triceratops 2y ago
  This is very naive thinking. Let's begin with the fact that imports aren't GDP. GDP is the value of goods and services produced inside the country. Imports, by definition, are produced outside the country. Imports power GDP growth. Let me illustrate. 60% of Wal-Mart's imports in 2023 came from China.[1] Wal-Mart is also the largest private employer in the world.[2] Wal-Mart generates billions of dollars of revenue and profit - GDP in other words - by selling imports from China. Imagine the economic hardship if even just Wal-Mart was cut off from Chinese imports. They'd lose at least half their sales overnight. Up to half their stores might close, or half the workforce might lose their jobs. That's almost 800k people. The unemployment rate goes up 60 basis points overnight. That's just one company. Extrapolate that to the rest of the US economy. 1. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/walmart-shifts-to-india-cuts-china-imports/7377475.html https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/walmart-shifts-to-indi... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart