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‘If it’s made in the US, I don’t buy it’: Canadians on boycotting Trump’s America (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by Sunshine@piefed.ca to c/boycottus@lemmy.ca

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Avoiding US goods and services – from tech to whisky to air travel – has forced many to find a new way of living

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[-] cristian64@reddthat.com 39 points 3 weeks ago

A few days ago I heard an old lady saying this on the bus:

Simply not buying is not enough... If I see a product in the store made by a terrorist state (e.g. Israel or USA), I damage it completely so that nobody buys it. No need to steal it. At some point the store understands that doing business with the terrorist state of Israel and USA is not profitable.

[-] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 17 points 3 weeks ago

Oh, I like her

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 10 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Some women age beyond wine to pure absinthe

[-] BillyTheKid2@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 weeks ago

Amazing. Fantastic. If we had more of her the world would be a better place.

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 weeks ago

Old ladies can be OG.

[-] ZDL@lazysoci.al 23 points 3 weeks ago

I was already de-USAifying starting around 1999 because I could hear the jackboots hitting pavement around the corner even back then.

2020 was when I started accelerating the process.

2026 was when I completed it (minus my Android phone, which is Chinese and thus de-Googled anyway).

I now look for country of origin on anything I buy and if it's USA, it's back on the shelf.

[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

It is in possible to though. Don't use any computers? That is impossible even if a non American company all parts are american. Credit cards american companies. Your right I could see this kind of coming. What I mean is I don't get why we let one country become so dominate and dependent on them.

[-] ZDL@lazysoci.al 4 points 3 weeks ago

Don’t use any computers? That is impossible even if a non American company all parts are american.

[citation needed]

Most of the silicon in a typical PC or phone is not fabbed in the USA. Leading-edge CPUs, GPUs, and SoCs are overwhelmingly manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan (AMD, Apple Silicon, NVIDIA, and increasingly Intel's own tiles). Leading-edge DRAM comes from South Korea and Taiwan. NAND flash comes from South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. The actual PCB boards, capacitors, and assembly are mostly China and Taiwan. Intel does have some US fab capacity, but even their recent desktop chips (Arrow Lake) used TSMC silicon. There simply isn't much of a modern consumer computing device that was physically manufactured inside the USA.

Credit cards american companies.

Haven't had a credit card since 2001. I don't live in a technological backwater like the USA.

It's very easy to live USA-free. You just have to stop drinking the American Kool-Aid and realize that the USA is the consumer of tech innovation, not the maker.

[-] DaGammla@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Well, yeah. If you just exclude companies that are too hard to avoid, like Intel, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and Google (with your Android), suddenly it is really easy. Just because something isn't fabbed in the US, that doesn't mean it's a non-US Product. Some Tech Company in the US still profits through your purchase. That's what the previous commentor hinted at with "Don't use any computers?"

[-] ZDL@lazysoci.al 0 points 3 weeks ago

NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm all fab in Taiwan, not in the USA. Intel has some US fab facilities, but increasingly also fabs in Taiwan. Those same fabs make other chips now. Chips from companies NOT owned by the US.

My Android is ages old and Google never got any money for it anyway since my particular phone vendor isn't in its developer circle that gets the latest and greatest from their surveillance machinery. Instead they took the bare-bones public-facing Android and wrote their own system on top of it. It's AINO.

Now to be fair my computer has an Intel processor, but since I got it in about 2015 or 2016, it's not exactly like Intel's getting any money from me on that either now, is it? My next computer will be running HarmonyOS with, likely, one of the larger Kirin chips from Huawei at the core. As will my next phone. So the next time I actually put money out for hardware, I will be completely de-Americanized: Chinese phone running a Chinese operating system, Chinese computer running a Chinese operating system (or Linux (or both)). Not a single fucking cent will flow the USA's way.

I know it hurts the poor little fee fees of Yankee Doodles, but the USA is not indispensable any longer and hasn't been for well over a decade, maybe even two. And as your Orange Orangutan pisses off more and more of the world, it will become an ever increasing social, political, and economic backwater of people jacking off to their own perceived greatness while the rest of the world moves on.

[-] DaGammla@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago

Sure, man.
If Huawei were to release a Laptop without Bluetooth, without Wifi, without HDMI, without H.264 or H.265, and without any other US patented Tech and without any paid US Software anywhere inside their supply chain, not a single cent would flow to the US.
But that's not the case yet, so we still have to keep on dreaming.

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[-] 0x0@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 weeks ago

You seem to be confusing "made in" with "owned by".

[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Che Banana @beehaw.org

Sure but those companies you mentioned are American companies it doesn't matter where they are made. All those companies you mentioned which are all American still profit Or the boycott is wrong and who cars since most of it is made in China and by your logic that is OK.

[-] bowreality@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 weeks ago

Damn right. And forever.

[-] kablez@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

American tech companies are producing and distributing CSAM via AI and their social networks. The US government has incorporated those CSAM producing organisations into its structure, bankrolling them with tax dollars. Therefore buying US goods is funding and promoting child abuse. And tacitly endorses it.

[-] MummifiedClient5000@feddit.dk 11 points 3 weeks ago

Wait til you hear about their president...

[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 weeks ago

For the most part I am boycotting american products. I was re-caulking my windows and could not find a non-american caulking tube, so I caved.

[-] potter2010@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 weeks ago

100%

If there is any alternative (Canadian first, but any non-USA), even if it costs a bit more or is less convenient, I get that. If there isn't an alternative, then I think if it's a need or a want. If it's a want, back on the shelf it goes. If it's a need with no alternative, I grugenly buy it. That eliminates 99.9% of purchases from USA companies or products that have a USA connection in some way.

I understand that I'm lucky enough to be able to spend a slight premium or take some extra time to find an alternative. I also lump Israel and Russian products/companies in with the above logic, but they're much easier to avoid.

YMMV.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 weeks ago

I think consumables alone makes a huge dent. Like you buy calking like once a decade?

And like who knows how long it sat on that shelf. Retailer might be selling off old inventory before switching to a domestic supplier.

I'm sure you asked an employee but IMO that will go a long way to helping retailers transition their inventories as well.

All in all I think you're doing a great job!

[-] bowreality@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 weeks ago

Exactly. Doesn’t have to be perfect and possible won’t be for a long time. We do what we can!

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 weeks ago

Home Builder brand at Home Hardware is made in Canada.

[-] Ibuthyr@feddit.org 4 points 3 weeks ago

Don't you have Sika or Knauf in your local hardware store? Especially Sika is a renown company with very high quality products. They're based in Switzerland and sell worldwide.

[-] A_be_seedy@beehaw.org 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Sika makes big fucking money off of US data centers and the AI boom.

[-] Ibuthyr@feddit.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

They make big fucking money everywhere. I don't quite understand. Where there's construction going on, Sika is there. Would be pretty dumb not to do so, don't you think?

[-] A_be_seedy@beehaw.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

I'm pointing it out, as I know Sika has a US presence that is essentially dedicated to data centers.

It is OK for companies to chase the opportunities they want to, that's capitalism. But some people choose to boycott goods based on where the company chooses to make their money.

In the US, lots of people are choosing to boycott businesses that make money off of Flock -including the installers. Boycotts like this can be effective for raising pricing for Flock, because the businesses left have to raise prices to install Flock, to cover the downsides. Thus making Flock less competitive and making it easier to stop Flock.

In a thread about boycotting over moral issues, there is relevance to painting the full picture. Whether anyone chooses to boycott Sika over their willingness to accept money from the pedophile elite to help build AI surveillance police states, that's up to the individual reader.

[-] Ibuthyr@feddit.org 3 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks for the background info! I just know of Sika because we use that on our machines as a sealant (sika flex).

I appreciate the insights!

[-] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 weeks ago

Most of my European acquaintances have also greatly reduced buying US products or using US platforms (like Amazon) and tech. The EU as a whole is working hard on alternatives (eg for credit cards, PayPal, office software etc).

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 weeks ago

If the EU comes up with its own payment mechanisms I hope they make them available for Canadians to use. It pains me that every credit card purchase makes money for a US company.

[-] codydodd@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 weeks ago

Im not speaking on your behalf but I find for a lot of people a big part of it is the culture of using a credit card. 98% of things you can buy with credit card, you can buy with interact, and it punishes the vendors less.

[-] ZDL@lazysoci.al 3 points 3 weeks ago

This right here. When I lived in Ottawa I had a credit card i maybe used five times a year. Everything else was Interac.

[-] BillyTheKid2@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

My bank has fees for using interact, so I just use cash. Cash still works.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

We moved to a Credit Union. No account fees, no interaction fees

[-] BillyTheKid2@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

I'm at VanCity and they have fees. I looked hard and the only accounts I have without fees are not Canadian banks (mostly European or Japanese) - and while I use those as often as I can, I still need a Canadian institution for some things (like paying tax)

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

There are canadian credit unions in BC without fees. Not smart for be to say online where i bank, due to how people can glean info. But check around you will find it

[-] BillyTheKid2@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

I'm at a credit union. It has fees. I've never seen one in Canada with no fees. That's ok! I use a EU bank and a JA bank that have no fees.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

Search more in Canada. I haven't paid any fees in 10 years. But hey EU banks for the win.

[-] BillyTheKid2@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I've spent too much pain with credit unions already. No, they didn't work. Too many fees. I've spent literally years looking at different institutions in Canada and I have never found one that doesn't have fees for what I do. It's possible that what I do is different than what you do and that's why you're having a different experience.

I have a VanCity account only to pay tax. That's it.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

Other Canadian Credit unions are no fee chequing and savings, no fee interac, no fee transfers berween products. Maybe there is a fee if you are doing something else?

[-] BillyTheKid2@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I demand no fees for:

Savings, chequing, Bank to Bank transfers (Inc swift), direct deposit, debit, and credit.

I won't pay fees anymore. I refuse. So it means I mostly can't work with Canadian financial institutions. That's fine, there's other options that work great with no fees.

The only "gotcha" is you basically need a Canadian account to pay tax. But there's ways around that too...

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

Of have to check our bank to bank policy, but all the rest are free

[-] bowreality@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

This is true!

[-] 0x0@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 weeks ago

Wero is a start.
Expect glacially slow adoption.

[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

Like how the fuck did we get here? Even before Trump I never understood how so many countries where OK being so reliant on America. I did not see how that is not a national threat and now here we are.

[-] Ulrich_the_Old@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 weeks ago

I am boycotting america until the last trump voter is dead. Since I am already quite old it will be a lifetime ban on america for me.

this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2026

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The community dedicated to boycotting the US until they stop fascism, restore full democracy and start following international law.

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