Bo Albertus, head of the school in Denmark, finds the Spanish raisins that now snack in less tasty than his favorite solar-children from California. There is no perfect substitute for Heinz tomato soup, a key in its closet. And Pepsi Max is missing.
But as President Trump follows the policies that Mr Albertus, 57, believes that he is jeopardizing Europe’s economy and security, will boycott other American products. It is an increasing number of Europeans, Canadians and others who abandon American goods to show their anxiety and frustration with Mr Trump’s treatment for long -term allies.
“I felt a sense of weakness,” said Albertus, who is managing a Danish facebook team dedicated to the boycott of US goods with 90,000 members. “We all feel we are doing something,” he added. “We act for our frustration.”
The strongest momentum behind such an action of consumers seems to be in countries where Mr Trump has competed directly, such as Denmark, whose Greenland territory has threatened to take Canada, which has repeatedly said that the 51st state of America should become.
But as Mr Trump embraces President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and imposes invoices on European goods, groups dedicated to boycott of American goods and tips on local alternatives have appeared in various European countries.
In a Swedish facebook group with over 80,000 members, users seek tips on buying non -American laptops, dog food and toothpaste. Members of a French group sing the praise of European laundry detergents and smartphone applications and discuss whether brandy or scottish whiskey is the best alternative to Bourbon.
Are there also detailed threads of discussion on what exactly is an “American” Coca-Cola product manufactured in Europe or ice cream by Ben & Jerry’s, now owned by the British company Unilever? – This shows how boycotts in a time of globalized trade are far from simple. But teams are mostly a place for restless Europeans and others to share stories and disappear for their opposition to US policies.
Majken Jensen, 49, coordinated by government agency in Copenhagen, acknowledged that many millions of people are buying American products worldwide and boycott from some consumers in some countries may not make a huge difference. Still, he has stopped buying Oreos and Heinz ketchup, and has changed the Estée Lauder Night Serum for a local brand, Beauté Pacifique.
“I’m not a drop in the ocean,” he said. “But this is the little way to protest.”
Mrs Jensen stressed that her decision to stop buying US goods was in contrast to Trump’s administration, not the American people. “We want our friends back,” he said.
The reaction has led some stores to implement changes that facilitate customers to identify local products. Canada’s largest grocery chain, Loblaw, uses a “t” symbol to declare US -made products that are more expensive due to the retaliation recently raised by Canada. In Denmark, Netto, Bilka and Fotex grocery chains have added stars to the price labels of European goods after customers demanded a cleaner labeling, their parent company said.
Elisabeth Braw, a senior partner at the Atlantic Council, said social media and interconnected global economy gave consumers more voice than ever.
“America has done many questionable things all these years,” he said, “but I don’t think even the Vietnam war could have caused such a campaign, simply because social media were not available.”
Business leaders are aware of the potential costs. In addition to meat, the California-based food company warned in its latest financial report that it could lose customers internationally because of “anti-American emotion”.
Michael Medline, the Managing Director of Canada’s second largest supermarket company, Empire, said this month that US sales from the US company were “falling” due to increasing demand for non -US products. This reduction will continue as the company goes more products from countries other than the United States, the company said, as Canada’s invoices make our goods more expensive.
The Swiss chocolate manufacturer, Lindt, said this month that in Canada he will start selling chocolate in Europe and not in the United States, both to avoid invoices and to reduce the risk of consumer reaction.
One of the most difficult American brands abroad can be the Tesla electric automotive industry, whose chief executive Elon Musk has become a key number in Mr Trump’s administration. It has also promoted far -right parties in Europe in X, its social media platform. In Germany, Europe’s largest electric vehicles market, Tesla car sales decreased to 76 % in February compared to the previous year, according to the German car industry.
Boikotes have also hit the digital world, with consumers saying they have canceled subscriptions on Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services – although substitutes with similar offers were not easy to find. Mr Albertus registered with Viame, a Swedish streaming service, where he recently started watching “monks”. “It’s an American series, but life is not perfect,” he said.
Mads Mouritzen, who started the Danish Facebook Group, said he had deleted his Airbnb accounts and hotels.com and stopped using Google and Microsoft Office. (Justified the use of Facebook, based in California, as a platform for the team because it was the easiest way to reach most people.)
“It is very important to say that we still like Americans. We still like the country,” he said. “There is a current situation we don’t like and there is a current administration we don’t like.”
Mr Mouritzen, a 57 -year -old foreman, said he hoped that relations between the United States and Europe will eventually return to where he was. But if this takes time, Mr Mouritzen is prepared: he has a stock of 12 bottles of the American Tabasco Hot Sauce, the one thing he cannot live without, he bought shortly before the boycott started.
