[Afforess]

The trump trade policies (specifically, the China tariffs) have reduced the exposure of many US firms to Chinese goods. A lot of factories shifted to Vietnam and other SE Asian countries. Europe is already showing early red flags in their stock indexes, due to their closer ties to China.

If COVID-19 spreads further throughout SE Asia unchecked, expect the SP500 to catch up with reality in a hurry.

[latchkey]

Vietnam is becoming more and more locked up from the virus every day. For example, all of the schools are closed until further notice and the borders have also been restricted as well.

[jetrink]

Would it be better or worse for China if the disease spread to countries that compete with it economically? If it helps China at all, would China be able to resist the temptation to allow infected individuals to travel to those countries?

[killjoywashere]

Well, I suppose in terms of comparative advantage, misery loves company, so better. In terms of absolute number of people with rice in their bowl on any given day, I suspect worse.