If the trade between US and China is severed now, it will likely push the consumer price index in the US up. (You do realize that the buying of China goods by US consumers is not due to the fact that US consumers love China so much but because those goods are the best price they can get in the world market. correct?) That will in turn cause the inflation sensitive Fed to raise interest rate, which will in turn put a brake on the already fragile US economic expansion. It may cause economic recession in US which a lot experts out there are warning about coming even without the impact from our theoretical trade problem with China.