Many people in US puzzled by self-inflicted wounds to economy

The US is buying a wide variety of Chinese battery cells for use in drones, medical equipment, and other high-tech and electronic equipment, and the average US consumer is not aware of this, he said.

"If the trade war accelerates to a point that China starts to prohibit the export of those tier-one special batteries and cells to the US, it will spell trouble for us because it affects a wide range of equipment used in research labs and hospitals as well as by many suppliers of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in the US," said Daniel.

He estimated that it will take the US at least five years to build a complete battery supply chain, because it currently has little access to the raw materials needed to make some of the batteries.