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2025 Canadian boycott of the United States

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2025 Canadian boycott of the United States
Part of the 2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico
"Buy Canadian Instead" signs on empty shelves at a BC Liquor Store in New Westminster
DateFebruary 1, 2025 (2025-02-01) – present
(3 months and 2 days)
LocationCanada
TypeBoycott
CauseNear-universal tariffs being placed on Canadian goods exported into the United States
Motive
  • Retaliation against tariffs
  • Aim to increase domestic production and consumption, and inter-provincial trade, within Canada
Target
ParticipantsCanadians
Outcome

In the context of the 2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico, a boycott of the United States began in Canada, including both American consumer products and travel to the US.

This boycott occurs in the context of polling finding that 91% of Canadians want Canada to rely less on the US, an option preferred over repairing the relationship with the US.[1] The shift in attitude towards the United States has been described as unprecedented by many.[2] In February, 90% of Canadians claimed to follow the issue of the trade war closely, the highest level of engagement with a news item since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

The Canadian boycott also occurs within the context of some residents of other countries like Denmark and Sweden boycotting the United States, its products, and/or brands associated with Donald Trump's presidency like Tesla.[3][4][5][6]

Boycott of US products

[edit]

Boycott of American products has become widespread. In late February 2025, an Angus Reid Institute poll found that 98% of respondents said they were "looking for 'Made in Canada' when they peruse the aisles."[7] "Half (48%) say they’re replacing as many as they can find substitutes for, while 37 per cent say they are replacing those where they can find a similar price and quality," for a total of 85% of respondents saying they are replacing at least some American products.[7] Some Canadians have joined "Buy Canadian" groups on social media like Facebook, with one group being reported to have 1.2 million members (as of early March 2025).[2] Various apps (e.g. Maple Scan, Buy Canadian, Is This Canadian?, and Shop Canadian) were also created to help Canadian shoppers avoid American products.[8][6]

A display at a Metro grocery store in Ottawa advocating for supporting local products

Canadian businesses have put up signs encouraging customers to buy Canadian products,[9] or tags identifying made-in-Canada products.[10][11] The Guardian cites Kenneth Wong, an associate professor at Queen's University, as saying "he had been surprised by an apparently organic response among Canadian consumers: on a visit to his local grocery store, homegrown apples were sold out, while next to them, a bin of US apples appeared to be untouched."[12] Some Canadians have voiced willingness to pay more to avoid American products.[2]

The boycott of American products has included American streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+.[13][14]

Boycott of travel to the US

[edit]

The boycott also includes travel to the United States.[15] Canadian tourists spent $20.5 billion USD in the United States in 2024, with 20.4 million Canadians visiting the country.[16][17]

In mid February, an Angus Reid survey found that 48% of respondents had already "or [were] seriously likely to" cancel or delay plans to travel to the US.[7] In late February, another survey found that, of the 20% of Quebecers who had plans to travel to the US in 2025, 45% had either already cancelled or intended to cancel their trip.[18] This represents an estimated $3 billion CAD economic loss for the US.[18] Bookings for leisure travel to the US by flight was 40% lower in February 2025 than February 2024.[19] However, in terms of actual travel rather than bookings, return trips by Canadians to the United States by air were near constant (2.4% lower in February 2025 than February 2024).[20][21] Return trips by car by Canadians to the US were 23% lower than in February 2024, dropping from 1.5m to 1.2m.[20][21] In polling conducted in late February, Abacus Data found that of the 32% of Canadians who were planning to travel to the US in 2025, 56% had either cancelled their trip or modified it in favour of a destination other than the US, with an additional 26% "considering [their] options" or saying they "could" change their travel plans.[22]

By March 2025, flight bookings to the United States from Canada had fallen by 71–76% in comparison with bookings in March 2024.[23][24] Airlines responded to this decline in demand by cutting 320,000 seats from Canada-US flight routes by March, representing a 3.5% cutback for the summer months.[23] In total, 4.11m travellers crossed from Canada into the US (by air or land) in March 2025, compared to 4.97m in March 2024.[25]

Travel agencies have reported drops in travel to the United States, with increases in travel to Mexico or Europe.[26] The Kingston-based tour company Maple Leaf Tours reported their US package took a 30% hit via cancellations.[16]

Many businesses in the US and at the border have described a loss of customers, including touristic operations in the US.[27] Duty-free shops reported a decline in sales of 40--50% between January and April 2025.[28] In March 2025, the Surrey-based owner of a duty-free shop at the US-Canada border said that as a result of decreased Canadian travel to the United States, "Our business has dropped over 80 per cent and now we have reduced our staff and reduced our working hours. This morning, we are now operating on a skeleton staff of only three to four people when usually we have about 20 people working."[29]

In addition to going to places like Mexico or Europe, many Canadians have taken to travelling within Canada instead. Provinces have noted increased interest from Canadian tourists, and are deploying new ad campaigns to encourage Canadians to visit.[15] Manitoba increased the budget of Tourism Manitoba by $4.5m for this purpose.[30] Travel agencies and businesses in Canada have also noted an increase in visitors.[31]

There may be a variety of reasons behind the fall in visits to the US, including not just the boycott but also a weak Canadian dollar and fear of the US immigration authorities.[32]

Music producer Bob Ezrin, who has dual Canadian and American citizenship, not only moved back to Canada from the United States, but also announced he planned to renounce his American citizenship.[33]

Florida

[edit]

Of 142 million visitors to Florida in 2024, 3.3 million were Canadians. They accounted for 3 times more visitors than any other single country; the second most common country was origin was the United Kingdom which accounted for 1.1 million visitors in 2024.[34]

A Quebec-based travel agent specializing in travel to Disney and Universal destinations claims that her reservations dropped by 60% from February to March 2025.[35] Some American travel agencies even left the Canadian market entirely, due to the drop in demand.[36]

Some Canadian snowbirds have sold their properties.[37][38][39] CBC News writes of Fort Lauderdale, Florida real estate agent Alexandra DuPont that "She's currently listing 35 properties, she said, and about 30 of those are owned by Canadians. Meanwhile, she has zero Canadian buyers. It's unprecedented in her 12 years of selling real estate."[37] More than a million Canadians go to Fort Lauderdale every year and contribute US$600,000 to the local economy.[38]

There is anectodal evidence of some Canadian travellers cancelling trips even at the loss of their deposit. For example, one Florida motel owner said that "I've seen a customer dropping a $1,000 deposit to choose to go to Cuba instead";[37] a woman from British Columbia even let go of a $5,000 CAD deposit to cancel a five-week vacation to Palm Springs, California.[2] However, some travel agents have described such cancellations as being rare.[35]

Official support for the boycott

[edit]

The boycott has received support from Canadian politicians, notably with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on February 1, 2025, calling on Canadians to "choose Canadian products and services rather than American ones" wherever possible.[40][41] Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, on a February 3rd appearance on Tout le monde en parle, also suggested to cancel or avoid travel to the US.[35] On March 5, Alberta announced plans for a "substantial" advertising campaign to help Albertans identify Canadian products.[42]

Canadians' views on the target of the boycott

[edit]

Widespread anger towards Donald Trump and/or the United States is fuelling the boycott, but different Canadians apparently have different views in terms of the target of their boycott and the culprit behind the situation Canada finds itself in. Indeed, summarising comments it had received from Canadians, The Guardian writes, "While some people said they were differentiating between the Trump administration and their American neighbours, others shared feelings of personal hostility towards the American population, saying they wanted to 'stick it to' their 'poorly educated neighbours to the south,' as one woman from British Columbia put it, echoing the remarks of many."[2] Likewise, a woman from New Brunswick said, "The relationship is broken. A great many Canadians hate the USA now. How can you remain on good terms with a neighbour who threatens your economy and jokes about bringing you to your knees?"[2]

In contrast, many Canadians put the blame on Donald Trump alone. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, for example, said this repeatedly in his news conference on March 4 responding to the enactment of tariffs by Trump. "It's not the people of America, it's not the elected officials, it's one person that has caused this issue, and that was President Trump."[43] He went on to state that in his view, Ontario's retaliations against the US tariffs were "the last thing I want to do. I want to put more alcohol on the shelves. I want to give you more electricity. I want to do everything I can to have a great relationship with our closest friends that we absolutely love."[43]

Some cafes have been reported to be renaming the americano coffee as the 'canadiano'.[44][45]

Americans' views on the boycott

[edit]

Sympathetic Americans have bought Canadian products in solidarity.[46]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Yousif, Nadine; Copeland, Thomas (February 5, 2025). "Trump tariffs 'made something snap in us' - many Canadians see US rift beyond repair". BBC News. Archived from the original on February 6, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Otte, Jedidajah (March 5, 2025). "'The relationship is broken': Canadians respond to Trump's tariffs". The Guardian. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  3. ^ Beaumont, Peter (March 12, 2025). "'I feel utter anger': From Canada to Europe, a movement to boycott US goods is spreading". The Guardian. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  4. ^ Solsvik, Terje; Rasmussen, Louise (March 3, 2025). "Tesla sales down in France, Scandinavia as Musk faces test of brand". Reuters. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  5. ^ Stewart, Briar (March 28, 2025). "Denmark considered U.S. one of its closest allies. Now many Danes are refusing to buy American". CBC News. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Cassidy, Anne (April 8, 2025). "The Canadians and Danes boycotting American products". BBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "Shopping Shift: Four-in-five say they're buying more Canadian products in face of tariff threat". angusreid.org. February 19, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  8. ^ Desmarais, Anna (February 24, 2025). "New 'Buy Canadian' apps released as boycott of US goods in response to proposed tariffs grows". Euronews. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  9. ^ Cecco, Leyland (February 3, 2025). "'Buy Canadian Instead': businesses vow to fight Trump's tariffs across the border". The Guardian. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  10. ^ "Some Canadians are boycotting U.S. products and buying local in wake of Trump tariffs". CBC News. February 2, 2025. Archived from the original on March 3, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  11. ^ Hristova, Bobby; McMillan, Dexter (April 12, 2025). "Are you paying more than before to buy Canadian? Experts say it's complicated". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  12. ^ Bowden, Olivia (February 28, 2025). "'I decided I was done': Canada pizzeria boycotts US ingredients in tariff dispute". The Guardian. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  13. ^ Bérubé, Nicolas (February 4, 2025). "«Oui, oui, c'est fait»: il annule son abonnement Netflix et souhaite que d'autres Québécois suivent son exemple" ["Yes, yes, it's done": he cancels his Netflix subscription and hopes that other Quebecers will follow his example]. TVA Nouvelles (in French). Archived from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  14. ^ Volenik, Adrian (February 6, 2025). "'I Love Canada More Than I Love Spotify'—Canadians Are Canceling Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, And Spotify En Masse, Despite The Tariff Pause". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Jones, Alexandra Mae (March 13, 2025). "The staycation goes Canada-wide: Scrapped U.S. trips could be a domestic boon". CBC News. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Song, Vivian (February 4, 2025). "'Am I now a walking target?': The Canadians boycotting travel to the United States because of Trump". CNN. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  17. ^ "Potential Results of Decline in Canadian Travel to United States". ustravel.org. February 19, 2025. Archived from the original on March 8, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Les vacanciers québécois boudent les États-Unis - Pertes pour l'économie américaine" [Quebec vacationers shun the United States - Losses for the American economy]. Tourisme Express (in French). February 28, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  19. ^ Little, Simon; Stanton, Kylie (March 6, 2025). "Canadian leisure travel to U.S. down 40% in February, Flight Centre says". Global News. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
  20. ^ a b Benchetrit, Jenna (March 10, 2025). "Spring break shakeup? Canadians taking fewer trips to the U.S., StatsCan says". CBC News. Archived from the original on March 31, 2025. Retrieved March 13, 2025..
  21. ^ a b "Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, February 2025". Statistics Canada. March 10, 2025. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  22. ^ Sheppard, Eddie; Coletto, David (March 7, 2025). "62% of Canadians Plan to Avoid the U.S. for at Least the Next Year Amid Political Tensions". Abacus Data. Archived from the original on March 24, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  23. ^ a b Dunbar, Marina (March 27, 2025). "Flight bookings between Canada and US down 70% amid Trump tariff war". The Guardian. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  24. ^ de Montigny, Philippe (March 31, 2025). "Les réservations de vols entre le Canada et les États-Unis en chute libre". Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  25. ^ Tasker, John Paul (April 16, 2025). "Nearly 900,000 fewer people went to the U.S. in March as cross-border travel plummets". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  26. ^ Mihalik, Halyna (February 20, 2025). "Travel agencies say some Canadians are boycotting U.S. travel". CBC News. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  27. ^ Reyes, Laura (April 17, 2025). "'I don't blame you': U.S. tourism hot spots mourn Canadian travel cancellations". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  28. ^ Goodyear, Sheena (April 11, 2025). "Duty-free shops struggle to make ends meet as Canadians steer clear of U.S." CBC Radio. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  29. ^ Lloyd, Mike (March 5, 2025). "Surrey duty-free shop hit hard by threatened trade war, owner says". CityNews. Archived from the original on February 14, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  30. ^ Scott, Lauren (April 7, 2025). "Tourism Manitoba gets $4.5M funding boost to promote province as travel destination". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  31. ^ Drouin, Raphaëlle (April 21, 2025). "Boycottage des États-Unis : vers une saison touristique comme durant la pandémie?" [Boycott of the United States: towards a tourist season like during the pandemic?]. Radio-Canada (in French). Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  32. ^ Harris, Sophia (April 10, 2025). "Canadian travel to the U.S. has plummeted. One reason why: fear". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  33. ^ Tremblay, Pierre-Mathieu (March 5, 2025). "Le producteur de Pink Floyd renonce à sa citoyenneté américaine et rentre au Canada" [Pink Floyd producer renounces US citizenship, returns to Canada]. Radio-Canada (in French). Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  34. ^ Oliver, Kenn (March 6, 2025). "DeSantis mocks '3.3 million' Canadians who visited Florida: 'Not much of a boycott'". The National Post.
  35. ^ a b c Duckett Zamor, Naomie (March 3, 2025). "Les agences de voyages ressentent le boycottage des États-Unis" [Travel Agencies Feel US Boycott]. Radio-Canada (in French). Archived from the original on March 3, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  36. ^ Nikundana, Gabriel (April 12, 2025). "Certaines agences de tourisme américaines se retirent du marché canadien" [Some American tourism agencies are leaving the Canadian market]. Radio-Canada (in French). Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  37. ^ a b c MacDiarmid, Campbell (February 23, 2025). "Canadian snowbirds cancel Florida trips over Trump's threats". CBC News. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  38. ^ a b Arnould, Frédéric (April 14, 2025). "L'ombre de Trump plane sur les snowbirds québécois" [Trump's shadow hovers over Quebec snowbirds]. Radio-Canada (in French). Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  39. ^ Arias Orozco, Santiago (April 4, 2025). "Some Manitoba snowbirds flocking back to Canada over U.S. political climate". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  40. ^ Murray, Warren; Bekiempis, Victoria (February 2, 2025). "Canada and Mexico hit back after Trump signs order for punishing tariffs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  41. ^ Tasker, John Paul (February 2, 2025). "Trudeau hits back at the U.S. with big tariffs after Trump launches a trade war". CBC News. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  42. ^ French, Janet (March 5, 2025). "Alberta will stop buying American booze, step up efforts to buy Canadian in response to U.S. tariffs". CBC News. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  43. ^ a b "Ontario Premier Doug Ford reacts to Trump's tariffs, plans to remove American liquor and implement surcharge on electricity". Yahoo News. March 5, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  44. ^ "The 'Canadiano'—Why Canadian Cafés Are Renaming The Americano, Explained". Forbes. March 3, 2025. Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  45. ^ "Americanos are now 'Canadianos' in Canadian cafes protesting Trump". The Washington Post. February 25, 2025. Archived from the original on March 1, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  46. ^ "The Americans who are buying Canadian to oppose Trump's trade war". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
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