Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is facing criticism online after stating that he is not concerned about empty shelves resulting from President Trump's controversial tariff policy because he assumes that retailers "preordered."
"Are you worried about empty shelves," Bessant was asked by Fox News' "Fox and Friends" on Monday.
"Not at present. We have some great retailers. I assume they preordered," he responded.
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Social media users were surprised by the secretary's response.
User @Hannibal999 wrote:"If you’re leading Treasury, you should know the status of critical imports and supplies, not 'assume.' Hope is not a supply chain strategy. Assumptions don’t fill shelves when the system cracks."
Another user @DonMcGowan said, "Is he trying to say that retailers had the foresight to mass over-order before Trump came in and destroyed trade links across the world? Trump made the decisions in one day. Then made it worse, two days later."
Author Stephanie Kelton wrote, "'Prices are steady right now,' the big box CEOs told the president, but 'the shelves will be empty' and this 'could become noticeable in two weeks.'"
User @KanKansi wrote, "What are they going to say when the shelves are empty?"
An account @LiveOnTheChat wrote, "'We will see how quickly the Chinese want to deescalate.' Xi is in no rush to negotiate. Expect empty shelves for months. These people have no f-----g idea what they are doing."
The National Retail Federation thinks U.S. imports will plunge by at least 20 percent in the second half of 2025 if increased tariffs are not reversed.
"Shortages are a real possibility," Coresight Research analyst John Harmon told Axios last week.
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