End of the American Dream
by Michael Snyder
April 29, 2025
The United States imported 438 billion dollars worth of goods from China in 2024. All of a sudden, most of that trade is being cut off. Tariffs on Chinese goods are now so high that it no longer makes economic sense for Chinese companies to export products to us, and it no longer makes economic sense for U.S. companies to import products from China. As a result, container bookings are absolutely plummeting, and retail CEOs are warning that store shelves all over America will “soon be empty”. Yes, retailers will attempt to find replacement items from other sources when it is possible to do so. But in many cases, things that are made in China are not made anywhere else. As retailers run through existing inventory levels, shortages will begin to emerge.
I do not believe that we should have ever started trading with China. And I would love to see a day in the future when we no longer trade with China. But at this moment we are deeply, deeply dependent on China. Nobody can deny this.
Our economy literally cannot function normally without Chinese imports, and now most of those imports will no longer be coming across the ocean.
Most Chinese imports fall into these 10 categories…