If China stopped all exports to the United States today, what would happen to the United States?

there will be brief shortage of clothes and plastic goods, which will lead to a spike in price until domestic production can be established. After than price will settle at 50-100% more than the current ones. Since resources will be used to produce manufacturing goods, and incomes decline, there will be less services (like restaurants) and less innovation (no new iPhones) and entertainment (less blockbusters) In China, 50% of jobs will be destroyed, leading to complete economic collapse, widespread poverty and possibly even hunger. Which will culminate in revolution against the government.

The USA actually does have a significant manufacturing base. Employment in the USA is broken down as follows: farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.6%, managerial, professional, and technical 35.5%, sales and office 24.8%, other services 16.5% Our manufacturing advantage is in high skilled labor production. In return, we buy low skilled manufactured goods from other countries. We hear about US firms moving to poor countries to take advantage of their cheap labor, but foreign firms also move to the USA to take advantage of our skilled labor. In fact, output per worker is very high in the USA. If China stopped selling us their low skilled stuff, we would buy the same things from other countries.

Here's my wonderful solution to this world-wide economic problem: every country's debt is forgiven, and everyone starts all over with a zero (or as close to) deficit. Toss in this caveat scenario: Country A owes Country B one million, and Country B owes Country A three hundred thousand: that's seven hundred thousand, no longer one million, that Country A is in the hole with Country B, and Country B is clear of its debts to Country A. However, Country B owes Country C two million and Country C owes Country A seven hundred thousand. Country A will forgive Country C of its seven hundred thousand in exchange for forgiving Country B of seven hundred thousand of the two million it owes. If Country B & C agrees, then Country B forgives Country A of its seven hundred thousand it still owes Country B. Country B still owes Country C 1.3 million, Country A owes nothing to either, so Country A agrees to receive equivalent value of goods from Country B in exchange for paying off what is owed by Country B to Country C. None of these goods from Country B can be sold to Country C (or any other country) by Country B: this will be exclusive export rights to Country A. Once Country A-C are free & clear of all debt to either other, they form an International Finance Committee of just themselves, and use its liquid assets to clear themselves of debt from Countries D, E, and F, and in turn, evolve D, E, and F into the newly formed IFC. From this point, the free-from-debt countries can invest in and finance other countries' debts, but NOT by using ANY assets from the newly formed IFC: they can only use their countries' own liquid assets. Just like what the IBC was once like, the IFC's funds are there only as a world-crisis support, not to support any deals made by them to other countries INCLUDING to the countries within the IFC. Talk about a cleaned slate!!!!

Our nation would make do while India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some Latin American nations ramped up production. The foreign producers are compelled to meet payrolls, maintain suppliers, warehousing and transportation facilities to the point that they would have little motivation to join China in such a work stoppage.

First of all, I don't which part of an isolated metropolitan area you live in in the US, but seriously, you should go out mroe. Manufacturing is still a very fundamental part of the US economy. And if China were to stop exporting to the rest of the world including the US, of course, we'd be screwed, at least in the short term, but they'd also be screwed, in fact screwed much more badly in the short and long term. When something abrupt like this happens, of course the economy won't be able to adjust immediately, and in the short term in the US, we might see the price basic goods skyrocketing since the short term demand won't be met by domestic supply. However, the economy will gradually adjust and find its new equilibrium. Assuming of course that this trade embargo will continue indefinitely, domeitc manufacturing of basic goods will grow rapidly, as well as increased imports from other countries excluding China. Eventually, demand will be met by supply, which it ALWAYS does, but of course the price for these goods will likely be much higher. China on the other hand, will be stuck with mountains of manufactured products that will take years to consume but sky rocketing unemployment rate and collapse of its manufacturing sector. Americans will eventually have to manufacture the plastic cups they need for tomorow's party themselves (in the short term, I guess we'll just have drink from the bottle or stopping all the partying) , but what is China going to do with a billion umemployed people?