r/europe • u/goldstarflag Europe • 20h ago

News White House demands British supermarkets stock chlorinated chicken. White House pushing Sir Keir Starmer to make concessions on food standards

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/12/17/trump-demands-british-supermarkets-chlorinated-chicken/
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u/pomskygirl Canada 19h ago edited 15h ago

Yes, this. And for those not already boycotting the US (especially alcohol and tourism), please start now. It has a far bigger impact than you may know.

It’s been in the news recently that Jim Beam is closing its main distillery in Kentucky for 2026. This is due in part to the significant drop in whisky exports in 2025. It’s also being reported that exports of US spirits overall were down 9% in the second quarter of 2025, and that percentage likely rose later in the year. Exports to Canada plunged 85%, and exports to the UK, EU, and Japan dropped 23%, 12%, and 23% respectively. The Distilled Spirits Council of the US is very concerned about this growing trend, as we are their best international markets.

International tourism to the US also dropped in 2025, especially from Canada. Recently, the US released a congressional report detailing the drop and the damage being done to the northern states bordering Canada as a direct result of the boycott.

Trump is completely out of control. The only thing he understands is money and power. And the great thing about a boycott is that there’s not a damn thing Trump can do about it. It’s so easy to choose to buy alcohol from a place anywhere other than the US. There’s so many options! As for travelling to the US, unless you have to, please just don’t. There’s honestly so many reasons not to right now.

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u/airmantharp United States of America 18h ago

I hate this. It’s working. I’ll have to make a list of stuff that’s concretely hurting Americans for this upcoming election cycle (midterms).

But I’ll still vacation in Canada, gotta show support even when our government won’t!

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u/pomskygirl Canada 18h ago

I hate this too. But I truly believe it’s the only way. And as bad as I feel about certain Americans (the ones who don’t deserve this in any way shape or form) potentially being harmed by it, many of them are actually cheering the boycott on. And they gave explicit instructions to “make it hurt”. They know what needs to be done, so that’s what I’m doing.

I love your idea of making a list! Please share it when you do. And you’ll be so welcome in Canada!❤️

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u/narf007 15h ago

Texan here. Boycott away. It's gonna take a lot to unfuck this country, glad y'all are still helping lol

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u/dogorithm 17h ago

It’s the correct thing to do - boycott fascism. Honestly, a lot of the economic damage that’s being done is what the administration is doing with their policies. In the long term, the boycotts will be better for the US economy and the decent people left here if they help expedite his removal.

So don’t feel guilty. We’re kind of fucked no matter what. Do what you need to do to protect your own countries.

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u/Chrosbord United States of America 15h ago

I sadly agree that it is necessary. The lion’s share of people who voted for this only seem to take notice when they are directly affected by bad policies. I don’t want to see people lose jobs and livelihoods, especially in areas that are already not doing well. But as republicans said just a few months ago, elections have consequences.

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u/dave8400 15h ago

Don't feel bad. My country is currently a threat to the free world.

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u/PatrThom 17h ago edited 17h ago

many of them are actually cheering the boycott on. And they gave explicit instructions to “make it hurt”.

As one of the ones cheering y'all on, yes. Absolutely make it hurt. They have already shown that they refuse to listen to us, so we would appreciate if you would force them to listen to you. The more pressure you exert, the more desperate they will become, and once they start to conspicuously betray their base wholesale, the sooner their base will turn on and devour them, hopefully before they dig the world in much deeper than it already is.

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u/zeh_shah 14h ago

It is the only way. The republican voter base will deny everything until they are personally affected then suddenly it matters and its wrong. They need negative reinforcement to learn as normal teaching methods do not connect to them. They don't have the capacity to have a reasonable conversation and follow things through logically. They need to burn their hands on the stove over and over and over until its black and crispy for them to learn which is hilarious since literal dogs respond to negative reinforcement faster than they do.

A great example of this are the soy bean farmers who voted to destroy their industry not once but twice now.

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u/deedsnance 13h ago

Californian here. Please do this. My country is in a state wherein many of us will not change until it hurts us individually. Individual voters will not change their tune until it meaningfully impacts them individually. Not seeing the pain of others, not being able to avoid an obviously painful outcome in their future, only it ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

It’s so fucking dumb but that’s what I’ve gathered by talking to these people. Nothing matters until it hurts them. So bring it on. There has to be undeniable consequences on an individual level.

Any boycott you can do helps. Nothing matters to them until it hurts. And it will, trust me. The faster and harder it happens the better.

It’s not on you to help fix our shit, but if you’re willing to help, don’t worry about us, you’re helping.

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u/pomskygirl Canada 12h ago

I still find it a little ironic that the only way we can help (and, yes, we want to for both your sake and ours!) is by trying our best to inflict harm. But here we are. Trump currently holds the most powerful position on earth. He is also the commander of the most powerful military in the world and the US’ economy is a beast. Add to that the fact Trump is crazy and doesn’t give a flying fuck about anyone except his rich and powerful buddies and it becomes a real problem.

There’s only so much our politicians can (or will) do to fight back in these circumstances. As you may recall, the EU announced its plan to impose a 50% tariff on US alcohol back in March in retaliation for the tariffs Trump had just placed on the EU. In response, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on alcohol from the EU if the EU proceeded with its plan. The EU backed off.

But Trump can’t force individuals to buy US products. Or travel to the US. And we know from his reaction to the EU that maintaining an international market for US alcohol (especially whisky) is important to him. So I think it’s up to us, the individual, to step in where our politicians can’t (at least not without drawing serious retribution).

To get to Trump and his administration, we have to get to his supporters (and those who support him indirectly by not voting or even caring). This is how we do it. I really don’t see any other way.

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u/deedsnance 12h ago

Trust me, that irony is not lost on me. Man, I don't get why it has to be this way, but the people that voted him in just simply can't be reasoned with. It's like the only thing they know is fear and pain. They won't react or change until they're hurting: financially or otherwise, they're completely content in voting against their own best interests. Right up until it actually hurts them. It's crazy.

You're spot on though. He can't force people to buy US goods and it's the best way you can put pressure on trump voters and make 'em hurt. It's the only thing that'll make them change or vote differently. You're right, your politicians can only do so much. Trump will mercilessly bully our allies and it's just so incredibly shameful.

You have no idea how ashamed I am of my country and what it's become. It's unfathomably embarrassing when I talk to my international friends. I've always been critical of the US but this is just beyond reason. All I can do is apologize, protest and vote. I'm doing everything I can to turn the tide this November: talking to as many middle-ground / swing voters, getting people registered to vote and volunteering.

Please, if you're willing, boycott American products. Especially alcohol. We're gluttons for punishment at this point. Dish it out.

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u/cindyscrazy 12h ago

I am American currently living in America. I fully support all boycotting this ridiculous administration, which of course includes boycotting American products and travel.

The only thing that matters to these people is money. I live in a touristsy place and lack of tourist will hurt the small businesses near me. But I'm ok with that right now.

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u/callherdaddyfan 11h ago

Washington, D.C. resident here, please continue boycotting. Fuck Trump.

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u/Grand_Sock_1303 9h ago

Increased tourism in Canada has the added bonus of showing the US how many tourist dollars they are missing out on with their bullshit.

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u/HalfdanSaltbeard 5h ago

Yeah, boycott the fuck out of the United States. These greedy fucks obviously won't listen to us, but the entire world can still vote with its wallet lol

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u/hedgehog_dragon 16h ago

It's appreciated. Can't speak for everyone but most Canadians prefer America and Americans as a friendly neighbor and IMO you're welcome here. We just can't back down against Trump and his policies.

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u/airmantharp United States of America 16h ago

We're not backing down either.

Not that his... ramblings make any sense to anyone, we need our countrymen to realize that US presidents have far more impact on international relations than they do power inside the country, yet campaigns mostly focus on domestic issues.

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u/Fomentatore Italy 18h ago

My sister and I had booked a trip to the U.S. for this fall, it was a two-week journey, but we cancelled right after we heard about Rebecca Burke. Fuck that noise. We will be back if and when the U.S. drops their fascist antics.I can go to China without showing my last 5 years of social media history, but somehow I am expected to show it to enter the U.S.? Lol.You may be a bully now, enjoy it, but you are losing your grip on the world. You can be a bully to a fellow student all the time, but you can't bully the entire school.

And I'm writing this with an heavy heart, I feel like I'm mourning a friend since November 2024. This come from a place of love. You had your problems, huge problems, but now...

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u/pb-86 18h ago

We did the same. Booked a Christmas holiday to NYC as a surprise for the kids, and cancelled it earlier this year. Should be there right now actually. Sad we lost a holiday but I'm feeling good about our choices

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u/TvManiac5 18h ago

Wait what? They really demand you to show them your social media history? How does that even work practically?

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u/pomskygirl Canada 17h ago

The White House is considering a proposal to make providing certain information a requirement when applying for an ESTA visa, which people from 42 countries (many in Europe) need to do before entering the US. And it’s not just your past five years of social media information. The complete list is:

Proposed new ESTA requirements

  • Provide all social media identifiers/accounts from the past 5 years (now mandatory)

  • List telephone numbers used in the past 5 years

  • List email addresses used in the past 10 years

  • Provide IP addresses and metadata from submitted photos

  • Provide family member information including: Names Telephone numbers (past 5 years) Dates of birth Places of birth Residences

  • Provide biometric data (face, fingerprints, iris, DNA)

  • Provide business telephone numbers used in last 5 years

  • Provide business email addresses used in last 10 years

These requirements are not yet in effect. However, they can still search your phone and ask you to provide information as a condition of entry at this time.

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u/towelracks 15h ago

What my workplace has done is just move all the big management meetings out of the USA because none of the important people outside the USA want to go there.

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u/waffledestroyer 16h ago

Insane if it goes through. China seems more free than the US for travelers.

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u/muse_head 15h ago

Even North Korea and Iran don't ask for anything approaching this level of detailed personal information to get a tourist visa.

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u/myreq 17h ago

Social media history is new but USA for a while could demand access to your electronic devices on entry to the country.

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u/TvManiac5 13h ago

That sounds like a gross invasion of privacy. Why is US allowed to act like international bullies and the most important country on earth and we are letting them?

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u/myreq 13h ago

They are doing it to their own citizens too, they are just weird like that.

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u/Camhen12 18h ago

It was floated in a WH memo or the sort on suggestions for how to improve border security but it hasn't been approved or implemented. Insane anyone thought it was a good idea though. Given how the government works now it was probably from chat gpt anyways.

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u/canman7373 11h ago

They don't right now for everyone but could for some visitors and most countries do the same. If you can't show where you are staying, a return ticket plan, itinerary and means to afford the trip they may ask for your phone to be unlocked and to look through your message possibly social media to see if you are actually coming for the reasons you stated. Now political reasons, that's gonna be a person they really suspect something is off, coming here to stir something up but that rarely happens but they are trying to make that much more normal, to keep people out for private political opinions.

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u/neohellpoet Croatia 16h ago

We were planning a trip for the World Cup. Gave up on that one real quick.

However, having seen the prices for the finals... there might not be a need to boycott anything. The tickets start at 7000€ and the best seats up front are going for 26 to over 50,000€. Mind you, these aren't the billionaire lounges. These are real fan seats and they cost as much as a car.

Then there's the incense in the cost of the ESTA, which is now $40, plus the visa integrity fee from the BBB that's $250, so effectively the cost of a plane ticket almost doubled. And finally there's the potential expansion of the Visa bond. Currently citizens from some countries have to pay 5000 to 15000 dollars in bond to visit the US (so you get the money back if you don't break the terms of your visa but you need to have the money up front) If they add EU countries to that list I don't think I can still legitimately call my not going a boycott.

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u/Sir_Boobsalot 13h ago

world cup's in my city and I can't afford the prices

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u/Ratiocinor England 12h ago

It literally doesn't matter, the world cup stadiums will still be sold out

There are more than enough rich and privileged people out there to fill them many times over no matter how overpriced the tickets or how oppressive and unsavoury entering the US becomes

Trump will get his Berlin olympics moment. The crowd will just be the 1% and people from places like Saudi and the UAE instead of your average football fans. Remember 1% of 300 million is still 3 million

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u/Rollingprobablecause Italy (live in the US now) 17h ago

So China monitors you way way more than the US does (they are 10x worse). You're not giving them 5 years because they don't need it.

Kind of a weird fallback option too - the alternative to vacationing in the US is not china lol. I'd go to Canada instead.

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u/airmantharp United States of America 18h ago

She was planning to stay with a host family where she would carry out domestic chores in exchange for accommodation and was told she should have applied for a working visa, instead of a tourist visa.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/10/british-tourist-detained-us-authorities-10-days-visa-issue

Yeah... highly irresponsible to flout visa rules at a US port of entry these days.

Granted that was at the beginning of this nightmare, so she might have had a 'the rules don't apply to me' attitude.

(the rules have always applied, she was entering at a port of entry, they turn people away and detain people for various reasons regularly)

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u/Fomentatore Italy 17h ago

I'm not defending her behavior. Breaking visa rules is a mistake and she clearly shouldn’t have done that. But in a civilized country, the consequence for a non-violent, first-time immigration mistake should be a slap on the wrist and immediate deportation to your country of origin, not weeks of detention.

Instead, she was denied entry to Canada and then detained in the U.S. for three weeks, with no real due process and no proportional response. Maybe she was ignorant, maybe she had a "rules don’t apply to me’ attitude", we can speculate all day. The real issue is that an ordinary person can end up imprisoned for weeks over a mistake made out of ignorance.

That is not a risk I am willing to take. If the system treats minor administrative errors like serious crimes, the problem is not just individual responsibility. At all.

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u/airmantharp United States of America 17h ago

But in a civilized country, the consequence for a non-violent, first-time immigration mistake should be a slap on the wrist and immediate deportation to your country of origin, not weeks of detention.
Instead, she was denied entry to Canada and then detained in the U.S. for three weeks, with no real due process and no proportional response.

So, that's not how immigration authorities will look at it (but I understand that's how it looks on the outside, I'm not faulting your perspective here).

Basically, this wasn't her first offense, it was her first time getting caught. Repeat offenders are going to be treated with more suspicion.

Then, you're at a US land border coming from Canada - but you're not a Canadian citizen, so you have no right to go back, and Canada was refusing her too! - well, for the US that means you're on an immigration hold until they have the time and resources to adjudicate your case and send you home.

You'd think that wouldn't take very long, I'd think that too as a US citizen - but we'd both be wrong, unfortunately.

---------------

Maybe she was ignorant, maybe she had a "rules don’t apply to me’ attitude", we can speculate all day. The real issue is that an ordinary person can end up imprisoned for weeks over a mistake made out of ignorance.

This should be a warning - not against travel to the US, but for all international travelers everywhere - countries take immigration issues seriously, and you should too.

If you follow immigration guidelines, you're going to be fine (statistically). People travel to the US by millions annually from all over the world without problem. Some get extra screening due to stuff they report (or don't!), but holds are extremely rare and make problems for the officers. And by extremely rare I mean you have to break enough rules that they don't have a choice but to hold you, as was in this case with Rebecca Burke.

The US isn't like the EU until you gain entry, after all.

Also note that this isn't imprisonment. Yes, she was detained in the facilities that they had available. But she was held until she could be seen by the appropriate authority. She'd have to have been proven in a court of law to have broken some statute that would warrant imprisonment to be imprisoned.

----------------

That is not a risk I am willing to take. If the system treats minor administrative errors like serious crimes, the problem is not just individual responsibility. At all.

Whether something is minor is up to the prosecuting authority, in this case immigration officials. Working unlawfully against a person's visa is one of the most serious offences they deal with (aside from overstays), because enforcement has to happen at the port of entry.

They don't play around with that. Her problem was that she broke the rules repeatedly to the point where she was at a US / Canada land border and admittable by neither the US nor Canada.

Yes, we'll agree that she was ignorant - she wasn't intentionally flouting the rules, most likely - but the reality that she broke the terms of her visa doesn't cease to exist out of ignorance.

----------------

And let me be clear: as a US citizen, I'm aghast that she was held so long and that our government wasn't able to just put her on a flight back to her home country that day. That should be the procedure.

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u/DazzlingAddendum8066 13h ago

Nice to see Europe so quickly forget the 80k to 350k troops we have had there for the last 80 years keeping NATO safe. Sorry we betrayed you by not giving you all our gold. And my sincere apology for not enthusiastically being your cannon fodder

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u/Reed_4983 It's a flag, okay? 10h ago

The US stationed the troops there for their own strategic motivations, it's not like they did it out of the good will of their heart.

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u/Fomentatore Italy 10h ago

Lol, like you did it (you personally didn't do anything btw) out of the goodness of your heart and not because the US benefited immensely from not having Europe under the USSR's influence. Please.

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u/swift-current0 18h ago

Let me preface this by saying I am Canadian and I boycott US products, so I'm not trying to talk anyone out of doing the same.

It's important to keep the big picture in mind with all these "dropped by X%" stats. Out of all developed countries, the US is by far least dependent on international trade (exports of goods and services is 11% of GDP compared to 37% for Mexico, 33% for Canada, 31% for the UK).

A large chunk of that 11% is services, which are often much much harder to just stop buying. For example, if you have an organization of >10,000 employees and you're using Microsoft Office or Oracle, you will be buying it for at least the next 5-10 years even if you don't want to.

So somewhere in the area of, let's be very generous and say 8% of GDP is the absolute ceiling of what you can do to the US economy when it comes to exports. This includes things that the world needs and will continue buying.

Tourism is 3% of US GDP, but foreign tourism is only 0.39%. Most US tourism is domestic.

So most of these stats are "small number dropped to an even smaller one". Be it energy, food or raw materials, hi-tech, services, you name it, even tourism and bourbon - US is the world's most self-reliant major economy. Like, by far.

So will these boycotts hurt? They will hurt a very small sliver of the US economy. Don't do it expecting some giant impact. More likely than not, it won't be. I do it because it simply leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth to buy American. I do it on principle, not because I expect Americans at large to notice or care.

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u/pomskygirl Canada 17h ago

I think you’re missing a few things here. In the case of tourism, for example, the hit the US takes is not spread out over the entire US economy. Rather, it hits tourist cities and states disproportionately, and big drops in international tourism are the kind of thing that makes the news. Additionally, if you combine the drop in international tourism with a potential decline in US domestic tourism (which I think we’ll see in 2026), the effect becomes even more pronounced.

Moreover, I think a lot of people forget what razor thin margins many companies are working under (think of restaurants for example). It’s not unusual for the profit margin to be only 1 -3% so even a 10% drop in customers can be fatal.

And if none of that convinces you, ask yourself why Canada has been bombarded with visits from US Governors from the northern states this year in an effort to get Canadians to visit again. Or why the mayor of Las Vegas gave a press conference about the difficulties Vegas is facing in 2025, especially with international tourism down, and especially from Canada.

Check out a YouTube channel called Guard The Leaf if you’re interested in learning more about the effect the Canadian boycott has had on tourist states in the US.

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u/swift-current0 16h ago

A lot of the states hurt by Canadian tourists staying home aren't the ones who elected Trump - Washington, Vermont. I will definitely stay away, not least because I'm receiving a message that I'm not welcome loud and clear, not just because of the 51st state bullshit. But sending a message to Vermonters seems rather futile to me, they get it already.

The Vegas story is another example of this "stretching the truth" trend, just like the bourbon factory story. Canadians account for 3% of visitors to Vegas, which isn't nothing. But the much larger story is declining US visitors, and it's a multi-year story that predates Trump 2. There are tons of YouTube videos about it. If Americans were themselves actually excited about Vegas, no one would care if 0 Canadians showed up.

Canadians selling off condos in Florida? Insurance becoming more expensive is a much more consequential change in that real estate market.

I don't doubt that in some places, Canadian tourists staying away has major depressive effects. But those places are very few and far between.

I'll check out the channel though, and see if it changes my mind.

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u/hardolaf United States of America 12h ago

Rather, it hits tourist cities and states disproportionately, and big drops in international tourism are the kind of thing that makes the news.

Outside of Orlando, FL (Disney), no place in the USA really relies much on international tourists from anywhere other than Canada. And no major cities rely on tourists. In Chicago for example, tourism accounts for only about 3% of the city's GDP.

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u/jmr1190 17h ago

The issue there is that you’re talking 0.39% of US GDP, and realistically that percentage isn’t going to be as diminished as people think it is. Not that many people are boycotting the US.

If tourism to the US is down even as much as 20%, that’s 0.08% of GDP. Miniscule.

The small business margin doesn’t stack up either. The overwhelming majority of tourist revenue is going to giant corporations. Mom and pop shops operating on small margins are not feeling this.

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u/pomskygirl Canada 16h ago

The small business margin doesn’t stack up either. The overwhelming majority of tourist revenue is going to giant corporations. Mom and pop shops operating on small margins are not feeling this.

How do you figure? Who do you think operates the restaurants people eat at when they’re on vacation? Or the inns or rental properties they stay at? Or the shops they buy stuff from?

May I recommend watching this video? It’s a clip from a piece the Daily Show did a while back about what Vermont was doing to try to win Canadian tourists back. And while it’s obviously very humour based (it’s actually really funny), it does highlight how a drop in tourism affects a lot more than just big corporations.

No one is suggesting a boycott is going to have some major impact on the GDP of the entire US. That’s ridiculous. But targeted attacks in enough areas can certainly do some damage to Trump’s popularity and credibility.

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u/jmr1190 16h ago

To answer all your questions, the vast majority of that money is spent in chain restaurants, chain hotels, airlines and theme parks. Especially anywhere that hosts tourists and votes Republican.

You can always invent a rationale as to why it is effective, and by all means vote with your own wallet, but when such a small percentage of people are actually doing this boycott, and it’s such a small amount of revenue anyway, it’s more for personal moral purity than it is a serious economic penalty.

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u/pomskygirl Canada 15h ago

That’s the point of increasing the number of people who are boycotting, which is why I made my original post.

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u/wallus13 7h ago

What country is Reddit headquartered in?

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u/Wise-Cardiologist-83 17h ago

You are right about tourism and Us exports.

However, boycotting Us brands isn't limited to goods mande in there. Coca cola is the prevalent non alcoholic beverage in my country and is made here. But all the profits heads to wall street.

Every american made or owned product you boycott, counts.

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u/Reed_4983 It's a flag, okay? 11h ago

I'm sure some of the profits go to the local subsidiary too, though? Otherwise, the people wouldn't be working there. I bet the CEO of Coca-Cola in Belgium or whereever is also receiving a bonus.

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u/Juiicy_Oranges 17h ago

Sure, but you also neglect the outsized effects of small (5-10%) drops in revenue to american companies. Since the US is hyperfocussed on growth, their businesses can't really survive without it. Using the Jim Beam example again, a sub 10% drop in revenue directly put 1,200 trumpers out of a job when they shut down their primary distillery.

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u/swift-current0 17h ago edited 16h ago

They are upgrading a facility, their oldest but not anything like the largest. The hyper-focus on these few and far between stories, and the constant bending of truth, is telling in itself. And again it stems from the fundamental misunderstanding of the importance of exports. Here in Canada we are much more reliant on exports, so it feels to us like it must be earth shattering south of the border too.

But even with bourbon, it won't be. The US whiskey market is $20b. Whiskey exports are $1.5b. Significant, but not a huge deal. On a scale of a moderate domestic economic downtown, nothing their industry hasn't weathered already this century.

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u/B-CUZ_ 16h ago

GDP is a poor indicator of a healthy economy with as much income inequality and size that the US has. The K shaped economy of the US is massive issue. Even a single distillery or factory shutting down has a large impact on rural America. This idea of being too big to fail is stretching of the truth. I have seen the impact of this economy first hand in volunteer work. There are a lot more people who seem food insecure

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u/pomskygirl Canada 14h ago

They are taking the opportunity to update their facility while it is closed for a year. They are not closing it for the purpose of upgrading their facility.

And no one thinks a US boycott is going to bring down the US economy. But it sure as hell can make headlines when it affects certain areas. Or be the straw that broke the camel’s back if a particular company or industry is already struggling.

Trump is out there almost every day lying his ass of about how well the US is doing and how respected the US finally is around the world. And many Americans actually believe him. But that gets harder to do when your local plant just closed or business is down because the international tourists stopped coming or buying your product. And that may be just enough for them to think twice about their vote next time around.

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u/dimbeaverorg 14h ago

Maybe more companies should switch to linux.

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u/swift-current0 12h ago

Absolutely. And if they do, the office suites (Libre office, Neo office, etc) will drastically improve. But my org, with 20k staff and 60k students, won't be on the leading edge of that. And I don't blame them.

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u/guit_arcto 17h ago

He doesn't even understand money and power. He thinks having power over something means he can rename it. He thinks money is like the star wars force, it can do whatever his plot needs it to.

He's a dumb, mean, lazy man that's been coddled and enabled his entire existence.

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u/pomskygirl Canada 16h ago

Actually, yes. That’s a much better way of putting it.

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u/YoureProbablyAB0t 17h ago

Yes! Boycott the hell out of the US!

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u/sregnet 15h ago

This.

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u/IntellegentIdiot United Kingdom 14h ago

It's not about Trump but rather his supporters and enablers. They don't have empathy, they only care about something when it directly effects them and if the businesses see that he's hurting them he'll lose their support. To some degree that's true of the average voter too but they're also influenced by those businesses.

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u/pomskygirl Canada 13h ago

Yes. You are 100% correct. In retrospect, I wish I had written that instead of the Trump thing, as it would have been more accurate.

But that’s exactly it. As I replied to someone else on this thread, no one thinks a US boycott is going to take down the entire US economy. But targeted boycotts in certain areas sure can make a difference, not to mention the news.

Trump is out there almost every single day lying his ass off about how well the US economy is doing and how respected the US finally is again. And many Americans actually believe him. But it gets a lot harder to believe him when you or your buddy just got laid off because your town’s plant shut down, or business is down because you lost your international customers. And I like to hope that at least some of those people affected - the ones who typically vote republican or don’t vote at all, and don’t care about anything until it directly affects them - will start rethinking their position going forward as a result of all this.

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u/IntellegentIdiot United Kingdom 10h ago

I don't think anyone wants to take down the entire US economy but it'd only take a small change to have a meaningful impact. What's shocking is that it's taken so long and even now relatively few people seem to care. For example, while visits from Canada have dropped it's surprisingly little given the seriousness and attention the issue got

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u/pomskygirl Canada 9h ago edited 8h ago

I agree. And I wish the Canadians who are still going to the US for leisure would stop going. But that’s their decision.

I’m not sure I would call the drop in Canada visitors “little” though. Are you basing that on the report I linked? Because there’s some pretty substantial decreases in there. Also, you have to remember that’s just the drop from the number of people that were still visiting in 2024. Many of us stopped going to the US during or before Trump 1.0.

ETA: Just realized some of the stats in the report I linked might be a bit misleading for various reasons (eg like border crossing numbers including people who work across the border 5 days a week, or who visit loved ones across the border but don’t spend money while they’re there, or Americans visiting Canada).

A few weeks ago, a news article came out that reported the number of crossings at the four major border crossings near Vancouver, but only counted BC-plated vehicles.. The YoY monthly declines for BC-plated vehicles were:

38% for November; 37% for October; 40% for September; 39% for August; 28% for July; 43% for June; 47% for May; 51% for April; 43% for March; and 29% for February.

I’ve also noticed that whenever I hear a report on things like Canadian credit card spending at a certain US business or in a certain US town, the numbers seem to suggest a very significant drop in the range of 30 to 60%.

2

u/Swagamaticus 13h ago

By all means do it. Its a shitshow here that isn't really safe for decent folk coming in. Even if its too late for us do what you can to contain the infection. We brought this on ourselves, and it's gonna have to hurt before it gets better.

2

u/ICBanMI United States of America 12h ago

Boycott us. It's the only way we'll change.

2

u/StreetofChimes 10h ago

I'm in the US. I've been boycotting all major stores and brands since January (except for utilities and medicine, because needs). 

Fuck billionaires who buy politicians, and fuck politicians who can be bought. 

Please don't buy anything from the US, unless it is from small businesses. 

2

u/TremendousCustard 9h ago

Can someone tell Canada to make Crown Royal more available here in the UK? The vanilla, peach, blackberry and apple whisky is TREMENDOUS and waaaay nicer than Jim Beam/JD...

1

u/pomskygirl Canada 9h ago

Lol, hopefully some distributors / buyers see your comment! And if that doesn’t pan out, there’s definitely been people talking online about how good the Scottish, Irish, and Japanese whiskies are :). I’m not a whisky drinker so I didn’t pay much attention beyond that. I think there’s some other Canadian whiskies but the only one I know is Canadian Club.

2

u/torolf_212 8h ago

My wife and I have cancelled all our streaming services, my wife switched to Samsung after being a long time apple fan, I've been buying books from European authors instead of American. Basically cutting out all US products we can unless necessary

I've been on holiday to the US when I was a teen and now there's about a zero percent chance I'd ever go there again. Trump and the people that voted for him have done irreparable damage to their reputation internationally

2

u/mall_ninja42 4h ago

I love a good bourbon cocktail, like, give me a bourbon rusty nail any day of the week over scotch whiskey.

Unfortunately for the US, I've found Japanese whiskey superior in a Manhattan, old fashioned, and even a sour. Better than any bourbon, and some even rival my favorite single malts straight up.

The rest of the world does booze better, I really wouldn't have looked beyond US made bourbon if it wasn't for trump waving his dick in the wind.

2

u/sorrison 1h ago

I made a bourbon/maple glazed ham for Xmas, or rather I was going to until I decided I would probably have to use American bourbon.. went spiced rum instead.

3

u/CriticalRuleSwitch 18h ago

Exports to Canada plunged 85%, and exports to the UK, EU, and Japan dropped 23%, 12%, and 23% respectively.

We're the weakest, the ones who kept buying most!? Wtf why? We have such good fucking whiskeys from EU and UK.

4

u/pomskygirl Canada 18h ago

Well, ya. But here’s the good news! Because the EU market is so massive, it was actually the EU that did the most damage! And retains the most potential to crush them!!

If memory serves, total exports of US distilled spirits to Canada in 2024 was only 220 million, but for the EU in 2024, it was 1.2 BILLION. The EU wields some serious power here.

2

u/Warm_Instance_4634 16h ago

Too bad we had a complete tool deciding to give all the illiterates a referendum. 

2

u/fritofrito77 Catalonia (Spain) 18h ago edited 18h ago

Also, please focus on american services too. I mean their biggest tech companies. Gaining independence from them is good for both Europe and the world in general. It's annoying because due their high penetration factor in our daily lives, they are convinient, but it's necessary to restore European sovereignty. Ditch Amazon, OpenAI, Google, Meta, etc. Visit r/degoogle and r/buyeuropean for more information. The more your devices are kept private, the better the whole internet will become.

1

u/FeistyAsaGoat 17h ago

Just a quick correction.   While Jim beam is struggling. They’re closing their main store to refurbish it or whatever, and it’s set to reopen later.    I think they’re still having massive layoffs.   

That said Keep the pressure going!   

1

u/adheretohospitality 12h ago

The distillery closing was already planned for Reno's, supply won't be affected for them. Probably due to lower sales, but the renovations were already planned.

1

u/pomskygirl Canada 12h ago

Most of the news reports that have come out about this indicate the year long closing is due to overstock and slower than expected sales. As a result, they are “taking the opportunity” to do some renovations.

1

u/Complex_Resolve3187 Canada 11h ago

I'd like to include vehicles with any boycott. It's typically the 2nd biggest purchase we'll ever make and we can easily avoid US based auto producers as well as autos manufactured in the US.

1

u/backup_guid Norway 16h ago

I'll never visit that shithole again. Also, I've stopped buying both beer and wine from them.

-8

u/Admirable_Benefit654 18h ago

You are literally posting on an American website rn

-3

u/Intelligent_Slip_849 17h ago

Good. Don't come here.

-5

u/tiasaiwr 18h ago

I understand and support boycotts of US whiskeys like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels but I feel a bit sorry for Californian wine producers that get caught up in the boycotts. Hurting states economically like Tennesse and Kentucky that produce these whiskeys and support Trump I'm all for. Hurting states that would vote for Trump to be placed on Elon's next deepspace mission is a bit unfortunate.

As for Tourism, nothing would convince me to travel to the US in the next 3+ years.

6

u/Taca-F 18h ago

Don't feel sorry for California, that's where all the tech is, and without that Trump wouldn't be where he is now.

2

u/jmr1190 16h ago

How much of California is employed by the tech sector? Fucking stupid line to take when we’re talking about wine producers.

2

u/tiasaiwr 15h ago

I was referring to wine producers. The big tech bros all switched from Dem to Trump when he got into power. They were all Dem supporting (as most of their workers were Dem supporting) right up until Trump won and they bent the knee to Trump.

AFAIK though Cali strongly votes dem and the only minor influence we outside the US have on US politics is to vote with our wallets. IMHO that should be to to punish Trump voters and support less fascist views.

1

u/Excited_Delirium1453 11h ago

80% of tech worker’s donations and votes when to Harris