(OPINION) It would be difficult to overstate the seriousness of the crisis that we are facing. Just about every single industry in the United States is extremely dependent on imports from China, and now trade with China is essentially coming to a standstill.

I wish that I was exaggerating, but I am not. According to the World Trade Organization, trade between the United States and China could decline by as much as 80 percent…

The World Trade Organization has warned that goods traded between the US and China could decrease by as much as 80%, backing US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s description of the current situation as essentially a trade embargo.Tourism packages

Unless something changes, this is going to be the biggest shock to our economy in decades.

At the moment, our stores are filled with products that are manufactured in factories in China.

But now many of those factories have become eerily quiet…

“I know several factories that have told half of their employees to go home for a few weeks and stopped most of their production,” said Cameron Johnson, Shanghai-based senior partner at consulting firm Tidalwave Solutions.

He said factories making toys, sporting goods and low-cost dollar store-type goods are the most affected right now.

“While not large-scale yet, it is happening in the key [export] hubs of Yiwu and Dongguan and there is concern that it will grow,” Johnson said.

“There is a hope that tariffs will be lowered so orders can resume, but in the meantime companies are furloughing employees and idling some production.”

We are also witnessing an unprecedented decline in cargo shipments from China to the United States.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka is telling us that “essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers have ceased”…

President Donald Trump’s trade war policies are expected to bring about a 35% decline in cargo arriving at the Port of Los Angeles by next week as “essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers have ceased,” according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.

The good news is that major retailers still have Chinese-made goods that they previously purchased to sell to us.

But as they work through their existing inventory levels, pretty soon we are going to start seeing empty shelves.

In fact, the chief economic advisor to President Trump during his first term is openly warning that we could start experiencing significant shortages in late May…

American consumers are just weeks away from feeling the effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs at the cash register, Gary Cohn, Trump’s chief economic advisor during his first term, said.

In a CBS interview, Cohn forecast that the consequences of newly imposed tariffs on China will start rippling through the US economy by late May.Tourism packages

“The cycle from a good being sold in China, loaded on a vessel, sailed across the ocean, unloaded in the United States, put in a factory, and distributed to a shelf is about eight weeks in the United States,” he told “Face the Nation” on Sunday. READ MORE