US tariff backlash grows in Europe

Europeans rejecting US goods, services

- LIZ ALDERMAN

For motorcycle lovers in Sweden, Harley-Davidson is the hottest brand on the road. Jack Daniel's whiskey beckons from the bar at British pubs. In France, Levi's jeans are all about chic.

But in the tumult of President Donald Trump's trade war with Europe, many European consumers are starting to avoid US products and services in what appears to be a decisive and potentially long-term shift away from buying American, according to a new assessment by the European Central Bank.

In April, Trump imposed a 10% blanket tariff on America's trading partners and threatened "reciprocal tariffs" on many of those, including the European Union. Companies like Tesla and McDonald's are seeing customers in Europe put off by "Made in America."

"The newly imposed US trade tariffs on European products are causing European consumers to think twice about what's in their shopping cart," the ECB wrote in a blog post about its research on consumer behaviour. "Consumers are very willing to actively move away from US products and services."

Europeans had already begun testing grassroots boycotts on American products, including Heinz ketchup and Lay's potato chips, shortly after Trump took office. His threats to take over Greenland, which is part of Denmark, energised Danes to organise no-buy campaigns on Facebook. Tesla owners in Sweden slapped "shame" bumper stickers on their cars to distance themselves from Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO who is one of Trump's top advisers.