Fears of pandemic-era shortages at American stores have made a big comeback as shipping-container traffic between China and the U.S. plunged in the wake of President Trump’s tariffs.

China has called on the US to cancel its sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country as a sign that the President Donald Trump is serious about resolving the trade war between the two countries.

China exempted some U.S. imports from its steep tariffs in a sign on Friday that the trade war between the world's top two economies could be easing, though Beijing quickly knocked down U.S. President Donald Trump's assertion that negotiations were under way.