Aside from all the political interactions that go on with China, it is the one country in the world that has a tremendous impact on daily life. So many things are made there that any slow down in trade can bring a building project to a halt. And, if costs go up related to things coming from China, we will see higher building cost in the United States and on most household items. We needed a new microwave convention oven. Come to find out that there are only three companies in the world that make all microwave ovens for all the different brands. And guess what. they are all made in China.
When there was a blockage in the Suez Canal a few months ago, it made delivery of goods slow down. So we waited three months for our microwave to come in. We have friends that are similarly waiting for their new dishwasher to arrive. Appliances available from a Lowes or Home Depot may very well be in stock so shorter delivery times are available; but higher end appliances are usually not maintained in a company's stock. They are ordered through a distributor and many things have been on back order for months.
Things like door hinges, door nobs and a million other things are made in China. This is the reason 5 million jobs in the US and 70,000 factories have closed in the last 30 years in the United States. Companies have moved production to China and other countries because of cheap labor and lower environmental standards. It all works just fine, except the job losses in the US, until there is a bottleneck. Covid has caused a bottle neck. So, if you are waiting for some critical things to complete your home improvement project, odds are pretty good China is somewhere in the story.
