Boycott of US products reaches Europe (German article)

Translation (DeepL):

The boycott movement against US products is gathering pace in Europe. A new website is helping consumers to choose alternatives.

The economic policy U-turn of the new US administration under President Donald Trump has met with little approval in the West. The US has already imposed punitive tariffs on some of its most important trading partners and is threatening to do so on others. Added to this is the scandal surrounding support for Ukraine, which is also causing international disgruntlement.

There is growing resistance to Trump's protectionist economic policy both in politics and in parts of civil society. A movement has now formed in Europe to boycott US products in order to send a signal against American trade policy. Origin in Canada

The boycott movement originated in Canada, where Trump introduced tariffs on Canadian products on 4 March. In response, both representatives of the Canadian government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on consumers to buy more Canadian products and avoid US imports.

In some regions, the boycott goes even further: in Ontario, for example, American alcohol producers and suppliers were informed that the distribution of their products would be discontinued with immediate effect. The turnover of American alcohol products in Ontario alone amounts to around one billion euros per year.

What started in Canada has now reached Europe. Posts with lists of alternative products to replace their US counterparts are proliferating on social media. Consumers are being encouraged to favour European products in order to strengthen the domestic economy. On the online platform Reddit, a group with over 100,000 members has formed within a very short space of time to discuss the boycott of US products in real time and share recommendations.

To coincide with this protest movement, Danish software developers have launched a new application on the market. The ‘Made O'Meter’ website allows users to scan the barcode of a product and immediately see whether it comes from the USA or not.

Even though the movement is still in its infancy, media interest is high and support is growing. Nevertheless, it remains questionable how much influence civil society boycott campaigns actually have. However, in combination with government measures such as those currently being observed in Canada, they could exert considerable economic pressure on the USA and its companies.

Edit: Wanted to add that I'm rooting for our Canadian friends as well!

Now this is what winning feels like :D

As an American, I want to thank y’all for what you’re doing. I don’t think our Dear Leader will listen to his own citizens, but maybe if global boycotts work, the people he will listen to (corporations) will tell him to stop this dumbest ever of all trade wars.

"It remains questionable how much influence civil boycott campaigns have". Does it really? I'd say it mainly depends on how many people join it (i guess that's the questionable part). Nothing runs without the population at large. It's hard to win a trade war when the enemy population hates your country, while your own population is largely indifferent to the enemy country.

Even if people only switch half the american products they consume to products of other origin, that can be pretty significant. For once I'm fully on board with this and will try to convince people i know irl to also switch to non-US products, if nothing else for those where it doesn't matter much to them anyway.

Saw the first article in a Dutch paper about this today. Here's hoping it picks up steam

I wonder what this is going to do to the value of the US dollar?

• A question that has not occurred to a single person in the entire Trump administration.

Yeah, this boycott is really gaining momentum! Finding European alternatives for digital stuff has become my new big hobby 🤩