Donald Trump has been warned by US supermarket giants that his trade tariffs could result in empty shelves. The chief executives of three of the United States' largest retailers, Home Depot, Target and Walmart, reportedly warned the US President his tariffs and trade policy could disrupt supply chains, raise prices and empty shelves.

An administration official said to be familiar with the meeting between the bosses and Mr Trump told Axios: "The big box CEOs flat out told him the prices aren't going up, they're steady right now, but they will go up. And this wasn't about food. But he was told that shelves will be empty."

After the private meeting on Monday (April 21), Mr Trump appeared to soften his stance on tariffs, which the US leader imposed on scores of countries, including the UK. Mr Trump said he would be "very nice" to China and not play tough with the country's president, Xi Jinping.

Mr Trump placed sweeping import taxes of 145% on China, which retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods. He also imposed levies on several dozen countries, causing the stock market to stumble and interest rates to increase on US debt as investors worried about slower economic growth and higher inflation.

The US leader said the final tariff rate with China would come down "substantially" from 145%, adding: "It won’t be that high, not going to be that high."

Finance expert, Stephen Innes, in a post on his Dark Side of the Boom blog, wrote: "Let’s not sugarcoat it - this was a messaging shift born in the boardroom, not the briefing room.

"The pivot from 'Trade War' to 'Trade Reset' didn’t happen because of some grand strategic rethink. It happened because Trump got cornered by reality - and it spoke with a barcode.

"Walmart. Home Depot. Target. They didn’t come to the White House for photo ops. They came bearing spreadsheets and supply chain horror stories.

"We're talking potential empty shelves by June, spiking consumer prices and the kind of election-cycle fallout that no polling wizard can spin. That landed. Hard. And just like that, the tone flipped from smash-and-grab tariffs to, 'We’ll be very nice, and they’ll be very nice'."

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that he expects a de-escalation in the trade war between the US and China, but cautioned talks between the two sides had yet to formally start.

However, Mr Trump asserted the two sides were involved in negotiations, which Beijing denied on Thursday (April 24), saying any suggestion of progress being made was like "trying to catch the wind".

Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said China was open to dialogue, but any form of negotiation must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect.

Meanwhile, Americans’ trust in Mr Trump to bolster the US economy appears to be faltering, with a new poll showing many people fear the country is being steered into a recession and the president’s broad, haphazardly enforced tariffs will raise prices.

Around half of US adults said that Mr Trump’s trade policies would increase prices "a lot" and another 3 in 10 think prices could go up somewhat", according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About half of Americans are "extremely" or "very" concerned about the possibility of the US economy going into a recession in the next few months.

Wariness over Mr Trump's approach to trade could cause issues for a president who promised voters he could end inflation.