Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again. So today, we're going to talk about

empty shelves from Trump's trade policies. You've probably seen some of the videos,

articles, posts, and news coverage, warning about supply chain issues hitting the point that

we will see empty shelves soon. Those warnings

have led to a lot of questions about whether they're sensational, alarmist, or set in stone.

So, we're going to try to sort through the information and give you a general overview.

The short answer is that they aren't set in stone, but they also aren't alarmist or

sensational. If you haven't heard what's going on, shipping experts, trucking experts, retail analysts,

and so on, have been sounding the alarms and saying that the supply chain has been disrupted by the tariffs,

so much that shortages will occur.

First, let's go through the chain and talk about how the issues are compounding.

Prior to Trump announcing his tariffs, companies started importing a lot of extra inventory

because companies expected Trump to disrupt supply chains.

Then, on April 2nd, Trump launched his tariffs.

Almost immediately, bookings for global ocean shipping for containers reportedly dropped by almost 50%.

Container imports to the U.S. fell by 62%. Companies are eating

through that inventory they bought before the tariffs. They don't want to bring any more in,

because the future of the tariffs are uncertain. No company wants to pay the tariffs and then pass it on to you

if Trump is going to back down on the tariffs in just a few days. It takes about 20 to 40 days for a ship

to make it from China to the U.S. The National Retail Federation is providing information that goes along with this.

They're saying U.S. container imports will fall at least 20% in the second half of this year.

So, some logistics experts are saying we're already at the point where we will see empty shelves no matter what. But that

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