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Boycott USA! Trump tariffs prompt backlash against US goods

7 1
15.03.2025

Scandinavian countries and Canada are at the forefront of a growing international trend, in which some consumers are shunning US goods because of President Donald Trump's decision to place tariffs on a range of products from all over the world.

Several Facebook groups have been set up in recent weeks aimed at organizing boycotts and campaigns. A Swedish group called "Bojkotta varor fran USA" in Swedish, meaning "Boycott goods from the US," had almost 80,000 members at the time of writing.

It describes its purpose as to "protect democracy, self-determination and security," and says it hopes boycotts will put pressure on the Trump administration. The use of the American platform Facebook is justified as it is "the best weapon," it added.

Several similar Canadian groups have started on Facebook, while a French group called "BOYCOTT USA: Achetez Francais et Europeen!" — BOYCOTT USA: Buy French and European! — has over 20,000 members.

There also appears to be support for a similar stance in Germany. A survey by the research group Civey for the business newspaper Handelsblatt found that 64% of Germans would prefer to avoid US products, if possible. A slim majority said Trump's policies are already influencing their choices when shopping.

Garritt van Dyk, a lecturer in history at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, said consumer boycotts have become popular in recent years as people see as it an additional option to voting to exercise political opinion.

"It could be that either they voted with one expectation and the reality is something different, or that they didn't get the result they wanted," he told DW. "They're looking for other ways to exercise that agency."

There is limited data available so far to show if such campaigns are having an impact. However, one of the US products

© Deutsche Welle