CEOs warning Trump’s tariffs may cause 'empty shelves' at retail — here's when it might happen

24 April

President Donald Trump on March 14, 2025 (The White House/Flickr)

Opponents of President Donald Trump's steep new tariffs are warning that they could bring a wide range of negative results, from skyrocketing prices to a recession to a weakening of the U.S. dollar.

But during a late April meeting with the CEOs of three major retailers — Walmart, Target and Home Depot — yet another possibility was raised: empty shelves in stores.

The CEOs warned that disrupting supply chains could prevent imported goods from reaching their stores in a timely fashion, thus resulting in consumers looking at empty shelves and being unable to purchase from them products that they need.

In article published by CNBC on April 24, journalist Lori Ann LaRocco poses the question: "What product categories would be hit first?"

"Already, a decline in manufacturing orders from China, and a plummet in Chinese freight vessel bookings and sailings to the U.S., are edging the national supply chain closer to a tipping point," LaRocco reports. "But when does the supply chain reach the point of no return, when currently paused orders need to be re-upped for the retail supply chain to be replenished?"

According to LaRocco, the "risk of retail shortages" will "depend largely on how long the 'unsustainable' tariff levels last, and the extent to which companies frontloaded inventory in the early months of 2025 based on Trump's threat."

"If the tariffs do indeed go lower and are considered more manageable to absorb," LaRocco explains, "production orders could resume and shipments could begin again. But if the high tariffs continue, expectations are that the U.S. consumer will be faced with more persistent shortages, especially as Chinese suppliers concentrate on other markets. If that happens, the U.S. supply chain would then have to compete for manufacturing capacity."

Read the full CNBC article at this link.

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