• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

The U.S. boycott remains strong. Why many Canadians are digging in their heels

Allan

Allan

DP Veteran
Joined
Sep 30, 2019
Messages
54,540
Reaction score
82,797
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Liberal
My local supermarket, part of the largest chain in Canada, has enthusiastically embraced the boycott with signs clearly identifying Canadian products.

Earlier this spring they donated strawberries to local food banks because customers wouldn't buy the US fruit. They now stock strawberries from Mexico.

Liquor store shelves are still bereft of US alcohol products as the Province of Ontario imposed a 100% boycott.

Boycotts often wane over time as people lose interest and return to old habits. But many Canadians' resolve to boycott the U.S. and focus on Canadian products has remained strong, and shows no signs of dissipating.

A majority of Canadians polled in a new survey said they're actively supporting the Buy Canadian movement, and support stores removing U.S. products. Plus, Canadian travel to the U.S. has steadily declined since Trump took office in January.
Click to expand...

In May, the number of return trips among Canadians travelling to the U.S. dropped by 24 per cent for air travel and by a whopping 38 per cent for land travel.
Click to expand...

Loading…

www.cbc.ca
 
NatMorton said:
That is so cute.
Click to expand...
Not so cute. Canada was your largest export market for alcohol products. The boycott is nation-wide and Ontario alone previously bought a billion dollars a year in alcohol from the US.

Canada is also the 2nd largest market for agricultural products.

Your brand, previously sought after in Canada, is now toxic.
 
Allan said:
Not so cute. Canada was your largest export market for alcohol products. The boycott is nation-wide and Ontario alone previously bought a billion dollars a year in alcohol from the US.

Canada is also the 2nd largest market for agricultural products.

Your brand, previously sought after in Canada, is now toxic.
Click to expand...
You'll be back.
 
Allan said:
When Canadian grocers stop purchasing US products that will not be in the cards.
Click to expand...
I don't think so. As if often the case, the longer the boycotts run the greater the economic reasons are for stopping them. As soon as Trump leaves the scene, the flood gates are likely to open.
 
In all seriousness, Trump isn't erasing all the reasons why the US and Canada have formed a close economic relationship over the decades (one could even say centuries). He's just getting in the way of them right now. When he's gone, so is the impediment.
 
NatMorton said:
In all seriousness, Trump isn't erasing all the reasons why the US and Canada have formed a close economic relationship over the decades (one could even say centuries). He's just getting in the way of them right now. When he's gone, so is the impediment.
Click to expand...
Downplaying Trump's disaster.
 
NatMorton said:
As if often the case, the longer the boycotts run the greater the economic reasons are for stopping them.
Click to expand...
Got anything to back that statement up?
 
NatMorton said:
In all seriousness, Trump isn't erasing all the reasons why the US and Canada have formed a close economic relationship over the decades (one could even say centuries). He's just getting in the way of them right now. When he's gone, so is the impediment.
Click to expand...
You're grossly underestimating the level of hostility Canadians feel toward the US.
 
Allan said:
Got anything to back that statement up?
Click to expand...
No, it's just an opinion based on my understanding of how economies work. Tariffs, boycotts, and politics can impede market forces, and I believe in market forces.

Do you have anything to backup your belief this is the end?
 
NatMorton said:
But I'm not underestimating their economic self-interest, and IMO, that matters more.
Click to expand...
There is no economic downside here. Buying food products from Canada and other countries, buying domestically produced alcohol, vacationing within Canada all come at no additional cost.
 
Allan said:
There is no economic downside here. Buying food products from Canada and other countries, buying domestically produced alcohol, vacationing within Canada all come at no additional cost.
Click to expand...
And at some point in the future Canadians will think...

"You know, we would have never visited <cool place in Canada> had the United States not elected a racist authoritarian felon."
 
NatMorton said:
But I'm not underestimating their economic self-interest, and IMO, that matters more.
Click to expand...

Like a lot of Americans, you believe everyone outside the U.S. makes the same assumptions we do and that economic benefit has primacy over other values. Not necessarily the case. A desire not to express national sovereignty and to withstand deliberate harm caused by a global hegemon is a thing.
 
WorldWatcher said:
True.

But probably not for another 3.5 years.

WW
Click to expand...
You're assuming our anger is directed exclusively at Trump.

That's not the case. We're aware his words and actions are widely supported by Republicans and many Americans.

This won't go away once he leaves office.

Canadian consumer buying habits and our government's move away from US military systems and other procurement will go on.

The US has twice tossed free trade agreements. The opinion here is that can and probably will happen again.
 
Every country now needs to plan around America, as something they have to deal with and navigate, rather than see America as a economic partner. Eventually that navigation becomes more permanent, and a new economy is built without America as the center.
 
Allan said:
There is no economic downside here. Buying food products from Canada and other countries, buying domestically produced alcohol, vacationing within Canada all come at no additional cost.
Click to expand...
Were that true across the board the economic ties with America would likely never have developed, yet they did.
 
multivita-man said:
Like a lot of Americans, you believe everyone outside the U.S. makes the same assumptions we do and that economic benefit has primacy over other values
Click to expand...

Yes, I believe that. I've traveled all over the world and I've seen human selfinterst as a constant.
 
NatMorton said:
Yes, I believe that. I've traveled all over the world and I've seen human selfinterst as a constant.
Click to expand...
You're assuming our self interest doesn't include a self defensive response to territorial and economic aggression.

Why would you assume that?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom