Stop buying American goods after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico

[Rainingalldayonmyhead]

Stop buying American goods after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

He says it’s because of phen and illegal immigration - less than 1% come from Canada.

This will have significant implications for the Canadian economy, the American economy and by domino the world. Not to mention the fact it could start a significant trade war.

The US doesn’t subsidise Canada - they buy Canadian goods. Approx 40% of their crude oil comes from Canada for example.

There is also an agreed trade deal between the US/Canada and Mexico that Trump agreed to and signed in his first years in office.

YABU - it doesn’t matter to me
YANBU - let’s stand up to a bully and support our allies

That's true - I had forgotten the wine! I tend to drink European anyway, because I prefer it, and it has less far to travel, so a bit better environmentally.

But perhaps we should be supporting California after the dreadful fires? In some ways CA is an economy in itself, and politically of course it's very different, and most people there will be against the tariffs.

(I am against tariffs too, btw, in case that wasn't clear - very much in favour of free trade. Just not a big fan of boycotts.)

Weren't they known to be fronts for money laundering? There was a hideous bright pink ‘American Candy Store’ in our town centre for a while, so I was delighted to see it eventually closed. I’d like to think it closed because nobody was buying all that sugary crap, but perhaps it’d be even better if it had been found to be legally Up To No Good.

I would be inclined to boycott Boeing planes based on their occasional tendency to fall out of the sky myself 😬. Watching the "Downfall" documentary about Boeing (available on American owned Netflix, ironically) was an eye opener.

@Rainingalldayonmyhead No not really. You can’t just magic things out of the ground if they aren’t there.

How do you think we manufactured things before then?

Do you think the UK workforce always sat on their fat arses in offices or what?

Internally, large areas of the US are economically desolate. Whole towns abandoned due to industrial collapse and decrease in manufacturing. This is the base that voted in Trump, those with no job and no hope. Nothing to lose.

Same problem as right here in the U.K., and the inheriting middle classes tend to despise those suffering identical problems internally while lauding the identical foreigners. Have done on and off since 1066.

Trudeau resigned (ran away) and suspended parliament, leaving Canada without a prime minister.. The Canadian dollar has already collapsed, if tariffs continue countless jobs will go and the country will be pushed into a recession.

There may be chaos on both sides, but chaos demands strong leadership. I'd expect Trump to use that to further increase his power grab and Canadians to turn to a populist hard man to fight their corner.

Mexico will go the same way, as will the EU.

It's almost like Trump knows what he's doing.

It's a gamble, but Trump, and more importantly his backers, stand to gain everything.

I won't watch Super bowl. That's my contribution.

One of the most heartening things about the current situation is hearing Democratic senators and members of Congress from blue states speaking up loudly and bravely to oppose Trump. In stark contrast to certain foreign leaders (looking at you, British government 👀)

This is a fascinating book, relevant to this discussion. There's a case study that runs through it of someone trying to have a novelty good manufactured in the US instead of China.

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/how-the-world-ran-out-of-everything-inside-the-global-supply-chain-peter-goodman?variant=41314384216142

There are quite a few companies that are perceived as UK based but that are part of huge US conglomerates. You might be surprised.

Google Mondelez International, for example, and you'll find loads of "British" brand names among their brands, inc Cadburys and Bassetts; also Johnson & Johnson, who "own" loads of other brands, inc Neutrogena, for example, which I thought was a European company. And it's very tricky when it comes to pharmaceuticals.

I bet most of the batteries you buy are either Ever Ready or Duracell, both US owned. I knew Duracell were, but I thought Ever Ready was a British company.

I'm hoping some enterprising soul produces a decent guide to how to boycott US stuff.

Don't forget Heinz

Yep. And this is why, whatever you may think of extremist interpretations of his thoughts, Marx was bang on the button.

Despite the crap pushed by our neoliberalist elites, the ownership of resources and the means of production ALWAYS matters.

God it’s horrible to watch when I’ve been right for 30 years.

I agree. But a lot of the manufacturing raw materials that fuelled the Industrial Revolution came from the Empire. The cotton, sugar, even grain etc. Now India has overtaken us as the 5th largest economy. It was also made possible by exploitation of the British working class. People who were stopped from keeping slaves in the Caribbean didnt suddenly turn into nice people, they starved Welsh miners for example, to near death instead. The world is different now.
I agree fast fashion is disgusting, and people could buy clothes from charity shops ( I do this. Some of my favourite outfits came from charity shops) or just make do with what they have. Not enough people do, otherwise Temu and Shein wouldn't be making so much money here. The whole environment is different and it will take an astronomical shift to get us back to where we were, and huge amounts of hardship that people just aren't prepared to endure.

No what I’m saying is if the oil isn’t in the ground you can’t make it be in the ground

Well it is THEIR bloody country! I’m not sure anyone in the US would be comfortable with our government wading into their affairs.

Just who the hell do you think we are? Pushing agendas onto other democratic countries!! It’s none of our business.

What goods do we buy that are American?

Most originate in one way or another from China - which in terms of human rights is on a whole different scale of worse than the USA under Trump.

Why not encourage a boycott on goods from China?

Good luck with that...

Boycott Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Don't buy their records, don't go to their concerts. Don't watch US films or TV shows.

It’s everyone’s problem - watch tomorrow what happens to the stock market

Boycott Amazon, Netflixs

No problem boycotting Hollywood films if it helps. But retaliation is what creates a trade war. Free trade between Countries isn't an inherent right. It's always a negotiated situation and USA has elected a leader who wants to change that, that's their choice.
There's good reasons for free trade that are mutually beneficial to those Countries entering into it and consequences if you opt out. USA are going to find out what they are.
But no Country has a right to trade tariff free with any other Country. This is what is continually missed with critism of USA. Everyone always having a go at them saying it effects world events etc. Maybe they have stopped caring what other Countries say about them after years of abuse and ridicule.

Bin your Iphones. Chuck out any PCS running Microsoft.

Canada helped us out immensely and from the beginning - sending troops etc. They helped out during and after the forgotten war and looked after our troops on their return from the far east until they were fit to return home.
US refused to enter 2nd world war to help out until pearl harbour. They also insisted we pay them back afterwards via lend lease so we struggled with food shortages and no coal for heating as we had to sell the better stuff to pay back the yanks. We were left with the rubbish coal which caused smog and led to thousands of deaths.

The North Sea has an abundance of oil but we are ideologically opposed to accessing it and so we import it instead. We export the oil the we do get because we have decimated the refineries to deal with crude oil.

Our oil is more suited as a chemical raw material rather than being burnt.

Funnily enough, I've always fancied owning a Morgan... just need to win the lottery first.