But the pandemic has slammed the brakes on various segments of global trade. Container volume in Shanghai, the world’s busiest port, fell 20 percent year-over-year in February, while cargo volume sank 23 percent at the port of Los Angeles in the same time period.

Earlier this year, much of that collapse stemmed from disruptions in goods coming from China, where many factories were locked down. That has particularly affected industries like electronics and industrial machinery, which rely heavily on factories in China to power global supply chains. Laptop exports from China to the United States have plummeted, for instance, just as demand is surging as companies switch to remote work and students are thrust into distance learning.

But like the virus, which spread from China to the rest of the world, so too will the economic disruptions, which are likely to intensify in months to come. For companies and consumers who have come to rely on being able to ship goods rapidly and seamlessly around the world, the disruptions could come as a shock.

“China has shown us how extreme the downturn in industrial activity can be,” said Chris Rogers, a global trade and logistics analyst at Panjiva. He said that seaborne shipments from China to the United States were down 45 percent in the first two weeks of March compared with the same period a year earlier.

For the last several months, factories in China have been slowly coming back to life, though many are still operating at partial capacity, and could be shut down if the virus resurfaces. But while Chinese factories recover, demand for many products is cratering elsewhere.

Those places include the United States and Europe, where demand for goods and services is falling as workers lose jobs and cut spending, leaving American businesses scrambling to cancel orders from China.

Around the world, factories are shuttering for a variety of reasons. Workers are quarantined or staying home to care for children who are out of school while some factories lack components and raw materials. Others simply have no need to manufacture products since no one is buying them.