Empty Shelves Ahead?

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

April 28, 2025

One of the affiliates under our State Chamber umbrella is the Delaware Retail Council. This group is indirectly associated with the National Retail Federation (NRF) in Washington, D.C. As a group, the retail sector of the economy is more heavily dependent upon imports from China than most other sectors. In a story released last night on Bloomberg, the U.S. economy is about to begin experiencing shortages of imported goods:

“Since the U.S. raised levies on China to 145% in early April, cargo shipments have plummeted, perhaps by as much as 60%, according to one estimate. That drastic reduction in goods from one of the largest U.S. trading partners hasn’t been felt by many Americans yet, but that’s about to change. By the middle of May, thousands of companies will be needing to replenish inventories. Giant retailers such as Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. told Trump in a meeting last week that shoppers are likely to see empty shelves and higher prices.

“The U.S. tariffs on China came at a critical time for the retail industry. March and April are when suppliers start ramping up inventory for the second half of the year to fill orders for back-to-school shopping and Christmas. For many firms, the first holiday goods should be hitting the water bound for the U.S. in roughly two weeks.”

News You Can Use

March job openings data and April consumer confidence figures are out on Tuesday. Wednesday brings us April employment numbers from ADP, March consumer spending results, and March pending home sales. On Thursday we’ll learn of April auto sales and wrap up on Friday with the April unemployment rate and March factory orders.

We’re now in the midst of earnings season and this week will be a busy one for earnings calls. We start off today with reports from BankUnited, Domino’s Pizza, Crane, Noble, PotlatchDeltic, Teradyne, Waste Management, and others. Altria, AstraZeneca, Coca-Cola, Corning, Ecolab, General Motors, Incyte, Smithfield Foods, Arch Capital, Caesars Entertainment, CVS Health, Fair Isaac, Hyatt Hotels, PPG Industries, and Visa are but a small sample of the calls scheduled for Tuesday. Amazon, Caterpillar, Etsy, Fresh Del Monte, Navient, Meta Platforms, McDonald’s, PBF Energy, Bloom Energy, FMC Corp, Qualcomm, Tanger Factory, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, along with dozens more are scheduled for Thursday. DuPont, Fluro, and others are scheduled for Friday.

Michael J. Quaranta

President

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce

Uniquely Delaware

Energy Snapshot

Delaware produces less total energy than any other state and uses less energy than all but three other states: Vermont, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. Delaware consumes almost 100 times more energy than it produces.

In 2024, natural gas fueled 83% of Delaware's total in-state electricity generation, up from 51% in 2010, while the state's coal-fired generation fell from 46% to 3% during the same period. For home heating, about 42% of Delaware households use natural gas, 38% use electricity, about 9% use propane, and 8% use fuel oil or kerosene.

Delaware's renewable portfolio standard requires that 40% of the state's electricity retail sales come from renewable energy sources by 2035, with at least 10% coming from solar energy. In 2024, about 9% of Delaware's total in-state net generation came from renewable resources, including 8% from solar energy. In 2023, Delaware’s industrial sector was the state's largest natural gas-consuming sector, accounting for 40% of the natural gas delivered to consumers. Industry has used more natural gas than the state's electric power sector since 2019. Read more >

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