Much has been said and written in living memory about the UK’s special relationship with the USA. With Donald Trump again in the White House is it perhaps time to re-evaluate this concept? Did it ever exist? If it did, was it perceived to be equally valid on both sides of the Atlantic? And most importantly, with war in Europe, what of the future? We can’t do much as individuals but one aspect of control is what we buy and there is much evidence that consumer boycotting of American goods and services is on the rise.
Across the globe change is apace. Canadians are avoiding US goods and the result of their recent general election has been attributed in part to Trump’s assertion that Canada should be the 51st state of the USA. Tesla’s sales World wide have fallen significantly, as has the company’s share price. No doubt this has been exacerbated by Elon Musk’s involvement with the White House.
European boycotts and protests are also in evidence. In Denmark (custodians of course of Greenland – another of Donald Trump’s acquisition targets) around half of all consumers reported that they deliberately refrained from buying US products. In Sweden 70% of those polled reported they had considered a boycott. Several Apps and websites have been made to enable consumers to avoid American products. The website “European Alternatives” (european-alternatives.eu) has seen a surge of interest.
So what of events here in the UK and how is it possible for us, as consumers, to demonstrate our disagreement with US policies? The recently announced Trade Deal with the USA may prove to be substantial but may turn out to be more gloss than substance. There is still a feeling by many that they would prefer to support domestic companies or those from Europe, which is still our largest trading partner.
Many household names are iconic US brands and we have the power of choice to seek alternatives. This is of course a personal matter and is inevitably influenced by other factors which impact our daily lives. We may wish to support an American citizen running a business here and no family wants discord caused by lack of a certain breakfast cereal. However, awareness of what products are American in origin may be useful when making an informed decision about where to spend our hard-earned money. The list is long; here are just some of the most well known:
Food and Beverage outlets include many fast food chains such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks and Dominos pizza. Drinks include Coca-cola and rival Pepsi-cola. Kellogg’s is one of the most well known Breakfast Cereal manufacturers.
Retail and clothing companies include Amazon, Nike, Levi’s, Gap and Foot locker.
Tech and electronics is overwhelmingly dominated by US companies including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Hewlett Packard (HP) and Dell.
Entertainment and Media companies include Netflix, Disney, Paramount and Amazon Prime.
American ownership of Finance and Services companies includes Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Pay Pal.
A number of websites are available which can be accessed to find the most up to date boycott or protest information. Ethical consumer (www.ethicalconsumer.org) provides an ethical shopping guide as well as a boycotts list. It also gives bank account information and produces a print magazine.
There is no doubt that the issue of trade, boycotts and related process is fast moving and there is a growing number of people, at home and abroad, who wish to use their consumer power in a cause relevant to their beliefs.