U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs started a wave of patriotic pushback this weekend from Canadians declaring that they were swapping American items off their shopping lists and cancelling their subscriptions to leading streaming services.
Mr. Trump’s plan to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods starting Tuesday has prompted fears of an economic shock that will throw hundreds of thousands out of work. The federal government immediately responded with retaliatory tariffs as political leaders urged the public to shop local and cancel holidays in the United States.
Some Canadians appeared eager to take up the call, taking to social media on Sunday to trade tips for shopping local and share lists of alternatives for their favourite American products.
Joey Alfano said he had already been doing online research to help him root out American items from ending up in his kitchen. Mr. Alfano, a 28-year-old construction worker who was out shopping Sunday at Ottawa’s downtown Rideau Centre mall, said looking at how he can change his spending was his way to respond to Mr. Trump, whom he characterized as acting purely out of self-interest.
“If I have to do a little bit of legwork to know what’s made in Canada, I’ll just look it up, within reason, I guess,” he said.
Kevin Vickers, a former House of Commons sergeant-at-arms who once helped stop an armed gunman who was attacking Parliament Hill, told followers on social media that he was committing to only buying Canadian goods and ditching Amazon – even though the monster retailer is convenient for residents of his rural area of New Brunswick – as well as substituting his morning cup of freshly-squeezed Florida oranges for domestic apple juice.
“And I know those Prime, Netflix, Disney movies are made in Vancouver but off with their heads (subscriptions) too,” Mr. Vickers posted on X, the social-media platform owned by close Trump adviser Elon Musk. “Lent came early this year. I am just so mad.”
Ottawa released an extensive list on Sunday of 25-per-cent retaliatory tariffs that are set to come into force Tuesday on hundreds of American goods, including chicken, lemons, wine, refrigerators and motorcycles.
Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadians-push-back-on-trump-tariffs-by-ditching-american-goods-and/
