Donald Trump despises Europe. The US president and many find in his cabinet that we are parasitic that the United States “exempt”. That is why Trump wants to prove products from the EU with rates of 20 percent from 9 April. How can Europe defend itself? To exert pressure, consumers were able to boycott American products. Wifo boss Felbermayr analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of a boycott.
Coca-Cola, Levis Jeans, Nike Sport Shoes, McDonald’s-burger, Mars Schocoriegel, Pringles Chips, Heinz Ketchup, Kellog’s Cornflakes, Computers and iPhones from Apple, E-Cars of Tesla and Motorcycles by Harley-Conson-Consense are now Boycycles. The idea behind it: meet the American companies where it hurts, namely with their profit.
Meet American companies where it hurts: with the profit
The Hope: If suffering is too great for American companies, this can cause this with the president. Added to this, and that is perhaps even the biggest advantage: if consumers now buy more EU products as an alternative to the American brands, they strengthen the European economy.
For Gabriel Felbermayr, head of the Economic Research Institute (WIFO), such a boycott would be a double -sided sword. He admits to the “Kroon”: “These are multinational companies that produce all over the world and that are owned by shareholders from all over the world. If you boycott these companies, you also harm many people who have never chosen Trump. For example, the employees in the German Ford factory in Cologne.”
However, the economist also sees benefits of this kind of demonstrative refusal to consume: “Nevertheless, a boycott of American brands would certainly be a pressure medium if it is extensive!” After all, the Boycotte had already existed against European products: “There have been scenarios in transatlantic conflicts, for example against French products when Paris supported the war in Iraq at the time.”
New trend: Turn packs from American brands on the supermarket shelf
In fact, more and more internet forums are calling for EU citizens to boycott American supermarket products. The newest trend is to run the packs of the corresponding brands on the shelves as a protest. This should indicate other consumers that they should not buy them. As a result, “SW&W” “” M & MS “. Photos can be found on the Reddit Internet Portal, on which a group calls itself “buy at EU” and already has more than 200,000 members. Protest movements of the citizens are also formed in France and Denmark. The Danish Facebook group “Boykot Varer Fra USA” users, for example, offers users about European alternative products.
The German trade expert and economist Gerrit Heinemann believes that Boykotte can really make sense. “The import volume from the US is extremely large, and if this falls as a result of the refusal of purchases, the sale of EU products will automatically increase. It is expected that all European manufacturers would have to take advantage of consumer goods and German manufacturers,” Heinemann told the Tagesschau.
At Tesla it has already been shown in recent months that the purchase of buying the buyers and Trump-Intimus Elon Musk has left an impression. Heinemann: “We have seen that due to the strong back number of Tesla admission outside the United States, the stock price has just been broken down by 30 percent and Mr. Musk has lost a lot, much billion dollars.”
Online help for everyone looking for alternative brands
If you want to find European alternative products, you can find out online at www.goeuropean.org. According to countries and categories, brands are mentioned there that the American brands can replace. Example: In Germany the “Fritz-Kola” website can be seen as an alternative to Coca-Cola.
And if you are looking for alternatives to American brands in Austrian supermarkets, in many cases you can also use the internal brands of the food chains. At Billa there is “Clever Cola”, at Spar the S-Budget Cola.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
