As politicians around the world scramble to respond to US “liberation day” tariffs, consumers have also begun flexing their muscles. “Boycott USA” messages and searches have been trending on social media and search engines, with users sharing advice on brands and products to avoid.
Even before Donald Trump announced across-the-board tariffs, there had been protests and attacks on the president’s golf courses in Doonbeg in Ireland and Turnberry in Scotland in response to other policies. And in Canada, shoppers avoided US goods after Trump announced he could take over his northern neighbour.
His close ally Elon Musk has seen protests at Tesla showrooms across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. New cars have been set on fire as part of the “Tesla take-down”, while Tesla sales have been on a deep downward trend. This has been especially noticeable in European countries where electric vehicles sales have been high, and in Australia.
“It’s the only way they [shoppers] can make a little protest on Trump,” Sanne, a store worker at a Copenhagen branch of Danish grocery store chain Føtex, told CNBC.
“F— the U.S. basically at this point,” said shopper Sanja, an Australian now living in Copenhagen.
“I would prefer European products versus American, not only because of the conflict, but also the standards. Now that the conflict is what it is, it’s even more so,” said Sanja, whose mother was visiting from Australia and said she, likewise, planned to shun U.S. products back home.
Another shopper, Eva, agreed: “Yes, I would avoid American products. I think they need a new president.”
The boycotting of U.S. products has been mirrored elsewhere in Europe, with the #BoycottUSA hashtag spreading on social media and Facebook groups emerging to help consumers locate regionally made goods. It follows similar moves by shoppers in Canada, where Americano coffees have been renamed Canadianos.
Big U.S. brands have also faced a backlash, with one French poll pointing to pushback against household name like Starbucks, McDonald’s and Coca Cola. Perhaps the most prominent among them, Tesla has seen sales drop significantly across the region, with some dealerships in Germany, Italy and Sweden vandalized in a rejection of CEO Elon Musk’s political moves.
This targeting of Trump and Musk’s brands are part of wider boycotts of US goods as consumers look for ways to express their anger at the US administration.
Denmark’s biggest retailer, Salling Group, has given the price label of all European products a black star, making it easy for customers to avoid US goods.
Canadian shoppers are turning US products upside down in retail outlets so it’s easier for fellow shoppers to spot and avoid them. Canadian consumers can also download the Maple Scan app that checks barcodes to see if their grocery purchases are actually Canadian or have parent companies from the USA.
Who owns what?
The issue of ostensibly Canadian brands being owned by US capital illustrates the complexity of consumer boycotts – it can be difficult to identify which brands are American and which are not.
In the UK, for example, many consumers would be surprised to learn how many famous British brands are actually American-owned – for example, Cadbury, Waterstones and Boots. So entwined are global economies that attempts by consumers to boycott US brands may also damage their local economies.
This complexity is also present in Danish and Canadian Facebook groups that are dedicated to boycotting US goods. Consumers exchange tips on how to swap alternatives for American products.
The fact that Facebook is a US-based company only demonstrates how deeply embedded consumer culture is in US technologies. European businesses often depend on American operating systems and cloud storage while consumers rely on US-owned social media platforms for communication.
Even when consumers succeed in weeding out American products, if they pay using Visa, Mastercard or Apple Pay, a percentage of the price will nonetheless be rerouted to the US. If a touch payment is made with Worldpay, the percentage could be even greater.
These American financial services show just how embedded US businesses are in retail in ways that consumers may not appreciate. In practice, an absolute boycott of US business is almost unimaginable.
All-American brands
But American branding is not always subtle. In addition to brands directly connected to the US administration – such as the Trump golf courses and Tesla – many other companies have always been flamboyantly American. Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Budweiser are just some examples where their American identities and proudly on show.
As such, it’s possible that consumers will increasingly avoid blatantly American brands. They may be less concerned about the complexities and contradictions of a more comprehensive boycott.
Consumer actions where the goal is political change are known as “proxy boycotts” because no particular company is the ultimate target. Rather, the brands and firms are targeted by consumers as a means to an end.
Do boycotts work?
A classic example of a proxy boycott took aim at French goods, particularly wine, in the mid-1990s. This was in response to president Jacques Chirac’s decision to conduct nuclear tests in the Pacific. The large-scale consumer boycotts contributed to France’s decision to abandon its nuclear tests in 1996.
In Britain, for example, French wines in all categories lost market share as demand fell during the boycott. At the time, it cost the French wine sector £23 million (about £46 million today).
These boycotts are a reminder that the interplay between corporations, brands and consumer culture are inevitably embedded in politics. The current political impasse demonstrates that consumers can participate in politics, not just with their votes, but also with their buying power.
Trump clearly wants to demonstrate American strength. The “liberation day” tariffs, which were higher than most observers expected, bear this out. But many US corporations will now be worrying about how consumers in the US and around the world might respond. Trump could see a mass mobilisation of consumer power in ways that will give the president something to think about.
Avoiding U.S. travel
The change in shopping patterns points to a wider shift in consumer sentiment, with data suggesting travelers are also increasingly turning their backs on trips to the U.S. amid Trump’s trade policies, unfavorable currency fluctuations and high-profile detainments of visa-holders.
Canada’s largest airline Air Canada said last week that bookings for trans-border flights from Canada to U.S. cities were down 10% for the April-to-September period versus last year. Travel data provider OAG, meanwhile, said Canada-U.S. flight bookings were down 70%.
It follows earlier comments from the vice chair of Canadian carrier WestJet, who said that U.S.-Canada border crossings were down as passengers “shift from the U.S. to other destinations.”
Similar trends appear to be emerging in Europe, too. Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin told Bloomberg last week that summer bookings from Europe to the U.S. were 25% lower because of “anxiety to go in an unknown territory.”
For shopper Sanja, that has made visits to her Italian-Colombian husband’s family more difficult. But when asked whether she was avoiding U.S. travel in the current climate, she was unequivocal.
“Hell yeah. Even when we go to Colombia, we’ll travel around it [the U.S.],” said Sanja. “I have two young kids, it’s not worth it.”
Consumer boycotts gather pace
Several Facebook groups have been set up since Trump first indicated tariff measures to organize boycotts and campaigns. A Swedish group called “Bojkotta varor fran USA” in Swedish, meaning “Boycott goods from the US,” had almost 86,000 members when the tariffs were due to come in.
It hopes boycotts will pressure the Trump administration to end its sanctions. The use of the American platform Facebook is justified as it is “the best weapon,” it added.
A French group called “BOYCOTT USA: Achetez Francais et Europeen!” — BOYCOTT USA: Buy French and European! — has almost 30,000 members.
There also appears to be support for a similar stance in Germany. Research group Civey found 64% of Germans would prefer to avoid US products, if possible. A slim majority said Trump’s policies are already influencing their shopping choices.
An online movement across social media and messaging boards like Reddit has also led to consumers in Europe and Canada turning American products upside down on store shelves, hoping the visual cue will dissuade purchasers.
European companies are also taking action against US firms. Denmark’s largest retailer, Salling Group, has said it will tag European products in its stores with a black star to help customers identify them.
The company will still sell US products, but its CEO Anders Hagh wrote on LinkedIn the new label is an “extra service for customers who want to buy goods with European brands.”
Meanwhile, some companies are taking even more decisive action. Norway’s Haltbakk Bunkers, which provides oil and fuel to ships, recently said it would stop supplying fuel to US Navy ships.
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