China

The problem is that doing what the author proposes and severing trade relations entirely would be extremely harmful to the 99% of Americans in the short term. Prices for virtually everything would skyrocket far faster than wages. And they would do so for everyone, not just blue collar workers. In the long term things might be better, but it would be a lot more painful to get there than I think most Americans are prepared to stomach.

Personally, my thoughts are in line with the author’s, but realistically we need to be looking at unified trade sanctions on key goods and potentially clamping down on foreign investment in both directions.

The tariffs are working; companies are thinking about China as a problem and how to minimize their reliance on China in case of disaster. Supply chains are moving out of China and into Taiwan and Vietnam and the Philippines. This is happening slowly but also smoothly. Let's keep raising the tariffs and let companies know the planned tariffs schedule for several years in advance. When companies understand that they need to get out of China or lose their competitive edge, only then will we start to see a mass exodus from Chinese manufacturing.

If you treat the cost of consumer goods in isolation as the only thing that matters in the economy, sure.

People who are gainfully employed do not have a problem with the cost of general goods like food and electronics; this stuff is cheap.

The problem (not only in the US) for most is under/unemployment and the cost of housing.

Because the jobs have been shipped offshore.

Well I'm somewhere in that 99% of Americans, and I can tell you that "what keeps prices low for me" is very far from the top of my list of priorities. People have values and principles, that are important to us.

Honestly, I’m pretty sure if you asked some random person if they would be willing to not be able to afford anything for cutting the ties with everything made in china, they would refuse.

At the same time, I look at the ultra-cheap "deals" lists on Amazon and cringe at the amount of crap we compulsively order, all these "deals" for things we don't need that bring us little happiness beyond the brief ejaculatory pleasure of clicking "Checkout".

The cost of housing is a complicated matter but is mostly not due to jobs going elsewhere. Single family zoning and 'never change' rules in home owners associations and cities are some of the biggest drivers of housing prices.