Peter Noonan’s boycott of U.S. products began on Donald Trump’s inauguration day last Monday.
“My weekly trip to Costco involved examining product source labels like never before,” Mr. Noonan wrote in response to a column last week suggesting a spending rethink on all things U.S.
Products made in America went back on the shelf, Mr. Noonan wrote in his e-mail. “Not in my cart. I’m not waiting for the official imposition of Trump’s tariffs.”
At the political level, there is no unanimity on how to deal with the threat of a Feb. 1 imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S. Yet e-mail traffic after last week’s column has been decidedly pro-boycott.
“You hit a Canadian nerve with me today,” wrote Mauro Fantauzzi of Georgetown, Ont. “We were at the grocery store and I avoided buying any fruits and vegetables from the U.S. Surprisingly it was not that difficult.”
Monica Paabo of Toronto said she tried to stop buying American fruits and vegetables during the first Donald Trump presidency. “I eventually gave in because I was less angry and had less energy to find out the facts,” she wrote. “Now I have to ramp up again.”
As Globe consumer affairs reporter Mariya Postelnyak has pointed out, boycotts have a mixed record of effectiveness. The tone of Globe readers responding to last week’s column was about delivering an economic counter-punch, but also simply being heard and showing solidarity with fellow Canadians.
Mark Stauffer of Saskatoon wrote to tell the story of his father and uncle, who ran a company called Kitchener Coal in the Ontario city of Kitchener-Waterloo. Mr. Stauffer recalled his dad saying he didn’t go south in the winter because he made his money selling to people in the community where he lived and he feel obliged to support them.
“Good for you articulating the idea that Canadians should spend their money where they made it … to help other Canadians prosper,” Mr. Stauffer wrote.
A few readers mentioned how difficult it can be to avoid American produce and grocery products in a world of big multinational companies and opaque supply chains. “Even if items are marked from Peru or Brazil or Mexico, aren’t these for the most part controlled by the big agribusinesses in the U.S.?” Ms. Paabo wondered. She’s looking for a guide to buying fresh produce during the Canadian winter from non-U.S. sources.
Other types of U.S. spending that are currently being re-evaluated include booze and travel. American wines and whisky are popular, but readers said they were open to domestic, European and South American wines as an alternative. Readers also pointed out that some Canadian distillers are turning out bourbon-style whisky, which is produced with corn mainly as opposed to rye, barley and other grains. True bourbon is produced only in the United States.
It might be the U.S. tourism industry that experiences the most noticeable reaction to the hostility that Mr. Trump is showing toward Canada right now. Mr. Fantauzzi said he loves Florida in the winter, South Carolina in May and shopping trips to Buffalo, N.Y., but he’s now making alternative plans. “Italy is looking great this year,” he wrote.
A few readers said they have enacted a U.S.-travel ban for the next four years, including Paul Butler of Mississauga, Ont.
“I am not finished yet pushing back on Mr. Trump,” he added in his e-mail. “Tomorrow I am going to research all the customer relations e-mail contacts of companies such as Celebrity Cruises, Airbnb, Tesla, Netflix, Disney and politely and briefly explain to them why am no longer their customer, or will not become their customer.”
All of this feistiness comes in response to the mere threat of tariffs. If the U.S. follows through, there’s reason to believe that Canadians can alter their spending enough to register with Americans. Consider the Bye, America spending plan if tariffs become a reality.
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