Controversy
Status:Open
Will Grocery Stores in the US Experience Empty Shelves/Item Shortage Under Trump 2.0?
UNLIKELYLIKELY
Claims
Rob Handfield"We don't have shortages right now, nor should we expect any in these areas [agricultural products]."May 02, 2025
American Trucking Associations
"Shortages [of essential goods] will materialize quickly and could lead to civil unrest."Sep 16, 2019
Ryan Petersen"If there's no deal [to lower the tariffs], then yes, there will be big shortages."Apr 26, 2025
The Independent"Companies slowing or cancelling orders from China could lead to empty shelves in stores, amid Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war with its major trading partner."Apr 25, 2025
Dino Bianco"If you have a supply disruption or unavailability because of tariffs in the US, you'll have empty shelves."Mar 31, 2025
Christian Science Monitor"Even a major reversal by the president on tariffs may not come in time to avert near-term shortages, since global trade has already been disrupted and it takes time to restart shipments."May 03, 2025
Marc Morial"We're going to have empty shelves by mid-early to mid-May because what's happened is all of the vessels from China are turning around and going back."May 06, 2025
Sean Stein"Like back during Covid where we had shortages of toilet paper, we are going to start seeing that in more and more goods."Apr 25, 2025
Torsten SløkTrump's tariffs will lead to "empty shelves in US stores in a few weeks and Covid-like shortages for consumers and for firms using Chinese products as intermediate goods."Apr 24, 2025
Jason Miller"I think the bigger effect we're going to see at first is not so much all-out shortages, but it's going to be far less product varieties."May 02, 2025
Phil Lempert"I do think that when we look at our produce department, that's where we're going to see empty shelves."Jan 31, 2025
Sean Stein"Starting in a couple of weeks, we are just going to start running out of stuff."Apr 25, 2025