
Jmpace52
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- Joined
- Nov 15, 2019
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Let's say China stopped trading their semiconductors and rare metals to the US. What would that mean for military hardware and consumer electronics? Well, US military hardware still uses US-based semiconductors. Also, China already pulled this stunt during Covid. We know the consequences: Auto production stops. No new cars are made. Replacement parts for cars are not made. Car prices skyrocket immediately. TV and phone production would stop too, and basically industry would be stuck with 2000s era chips until US stock can be made.
Phone prices would skyrocket but still be produced, and more people would buy PCs as they can use modular parts. Perhaps the phone industry would adopt modular parts as a means to deal with high prices, but they can also just build new fabs anyway. For automobiles, infotainment systems would be stripped out and backup cameras would be made much more simpler. Most dealers would have buyback programs for old car screens and buttons, and pick-n-pull would have far more aggressive bidding by dealers for electronic components. A refurbishment/recycling industry built off this would be made, as pick-n-pull, autozone and kragen all do with batteries, starters and alternators.
The damage wouldn't be permanent. Overall the economy would adjust, automobile production would be lower, and there'd be a secondary electronics economy until new factories are made. But what about China? What if we stopped trading with them? Wouldn't they starve because they're the largest importer of food in the world (since America and other countries that you wouldn't necessarily consider to be their allies is where they get most of their food from)?
Phone prices would skyrocket but still be produced, and more people would buy PCs as they can use modular parts. Perhaps the phone industry would adopt modular parts as a means to deal with high prices, but they can also just build new fabs anyway. For automobiles, infotainment systems would be stripped out and backup cameras would be made much more simpler. Most dealers would have buyback programs for old car screens and buttons, and pick-n-pull would have far more aggressive bidding by dealers for electronic components. A refurbishment/recycling industry built off this would be made, as pick-n-pull, autozone and kragen all do with batteries, starters and alternators.
The damage wouldn't be permanent. Overall the economy would adjust, automobile production would be lower, and there'd be a secondary electronics economy until new factories are made. But what about China? What if we stopped trading with them? Wouldn't they starve because they're the largest importer of food in the world (since America and other countries that you wouldn't necessarily consider to be their allies is where they get most of their food from)?