Question. Abunch of smart people here. Why should I stick up on given this. Food and non food items. Olive oil? Underwear and bras? Canned imported foods? What's something I'm not thinking of that a year from now may say, duh. I guess add coffee, chocolate, tea?
Medicine. China and India manufacture over half of our pharmaceuticals.
Unfortunately our dysfunctional insurance system means you may not be able to get more than a 30-90 day supply of prescription medication without special permission from your insurance overlords. But, you can probably buy enough over-the-counter medicine now to cover you for a year or two without it expiring on you. If you have something you take routinely and might be miserable without like allergy medicine, then it is not a bad idea to check your supplies and make sure you will not run out any time soon.
Batteries, particularly lithium ion batteries if you anticipate needing any in the near term.
If you were already planning to buy power tools or large appliances in the next year because you need them, then sooner might be better than later. Don't buy them for no reason, obviously. For the most part you can find these on the used market, so I don't think that is urgent.
I also bought TP, but not because of import issues (we actually make that in the US), but rather because if we start to have supply chain delays in other areas, then I think it might spark COVID PTSD panic buying of TP. My brother's solution was to install a bidet at home . . . he likes it, but it's not my favorite option personally.
I think for most other things you can find alternatives, recycle used options from your local thrift store, or just learn to do without. For example, China makes a lot of our apple juice, but you could shift to other types of juice if the price of that spikes and you feel a need to consume juice for some reason, or you could just eat apples and drink water instead. China also supplies a big proportion of our garlic, tea, sesame seeds, and spices like ginger and tumeric. White pepper mostly comes from China while black pepper mostly comes from places like Malaysia. There is some garlic grown in the US, of course, but if you really, really like to use it to cook a bunch, then it would not hurt to have a little extra on hand now.
Let's be real, though: do most of us need to buy new clothes, new furniture, new toys, the latest iphone, etc? We don't. A long trade war with China would screw up industries like construction because they make our hinges, laminates, etc. and we learned all about how their chips control our new pickup trucks in the pandemic, but if you aren't a consuma sucka, then all I'd really worry about is medicines.
