The most pronounced so far has been the rejection of Elon Musk’s Tesla vehicles by European car buyers. Musk is currently a prominent figure in the Trump administration who heads the “Department of Government Efficiency,” a special task force created by Trump that contributed to the sharp decline in Tesla’s stock value. On Monday alone, about 15% of the value of shares was deleted.
The decline in sales of Tesla vehicles in Europe has been well documented, as has the consumer boycott in Canada in response to trade tariffs and Trump’s calls for Canada to become the 51st US state. However, for the past week, there have been daily reports of cultural and other forms of boycotts and withdrawal of investments.
In Canada, where the American national anthem is booed during hockey games with American teams, a number of apps like “Maple Scan” have emerged that allow customers to scan QR codes and avoid buying American products – from alcohol to pizza toppings.
Data released this week show that the number of Canadians traveling by car to the U.S. — which accounts for the majority of Canadian visits — dropped 23% compared to February 2024, according to Statistics Canada.
While Canada and Mexico are on the front lines of Trump’s trade war, the boycott movement is also visible in countries whose economies are not targeted.
In Sweden, about 40,000 users have joined a Facebook group calling for a boycott of American companies (including Facebook itself) and offering alternatives to those companies’ products.
In Denmark, where there is widespread anger at Trump over his threats to impose control over autonomous Greenland, the largest retail chain, the Salling group, said it would mark products made in Europe with a black star to make it easier for consumers to buy European products instead of American ones.
Even more powerful is the company’s decision to cut ties with the US. Norway’s largest refueling operation, private company Haltbakk, recently announced a boycott of occasional refueling of U.S. Navy ships.
Referring to a heated meeting at the White House between Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump last month, the company posted on Facebook: “Today we witnessed the greatest circus ever shown ‘live on TV’ by the current President of the United States and his Vice President.”
Kudos to the President of Ukraine for holding back and remaining calm, even though the US put on a treasonous TV show. We were sick.”
“As a result, we have decided to [immediately] stop supplying fuel to US forces in Norway and their ships coming to Norwegian ports… We call on all Norwegians and Europeans to follow suit.”
While boycotts have been a familiar tactic in the past—directed against apartheid South Africa and Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories—what is striking is how the second Trump administration quickly became the target of both consumer outrage and ethically minded companies.
Trump commented on the issue for the first time this week, lamenting the impact of customer boycotts of Tesla products and demonstrations.
He wrote on social media: “To Republicans, Conservatives and all great Americans, Elon Musk is putting everything on the line to help our nation, and he’s doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the radical leftist lunatics, as they usually do, are trying to illegally and collectively boycott Tesla, one of the best car manufacturers in the world and Elon’s baby.”
Elizabeth Brough, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote for the Center for European Policy Analysis this week: “No one — no one — thought that Western businesses or consumers would use this kind of means against America. The United States is, after all, the leader of the free world. Or they were: their vote with Russia, against Ukraine, at last month’s UN, combined with Trump and Vance’s verbal attacks on Zelensky, along with Trump’s condemnation of Zelensky as a dictator and refusal to use similar language against the Russian despot, suggests to many that America is no longer an instinctive member of what we call the West.”
For some, the reaction was entirely predictable.
When Trump first threatened to impose broad tariffs this year, Takeshi Ninami, chief executive of Japanese multinational Suntory Holdings, which owns several major US brands, told the Financial Times that international consumers would likely avoid US brands in the event of a trade war.
“We laid out a strategic and budget plan for 2025 expecting that American products, including American whiskey, would be less accepted in those countries outside the US because of, firstly, tariffs and secondly, emotions,” Ninami said.
And it will probably spread even more.