Since taking office, United States President Donald Trump has used tariffs to address perceived trade deficits with other countries. He claims that other countries have cheated and pillaged the U.S. via trade deficits.
In response, many political leaders have implemented retaliatory tariffs on American products, although Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently lifted many of them in an apparent peace offering amid Canada-U.S. trade negotiations.
Citizens have also been engaged in these trade wars by avoiding the purchase of American products and services, as well as avoiding travel to the U.S.
From June 25 to July 8, 2025, Kantar, a global research and consulting company, conducted a survey through its online panels of 1,500 respondents in Canada, France and the United Kingdom, respectively.
Strict quotas were used to ensure the survey respondents would match the census profile of the adult population in each of the three countries.
Surveying consumers
As a social scientist who examines citizen engagement in civic and political life, I designed the survey questions. Respondents answered yes or no to:
Due to Trump’s recent tariffs, have you boycotted: a) American products, including grocery items; b) American services, such as Facebook, Amazon, or TV streaming services; and c) Travel to the United States.
The graph below outlines the results. Compared to the U.K. and France, Canadians were far more likely to report boycotting American products, services and travel.
Canadians, of course, have greater opportunities to boycott compared to other countries, given historically high levels of travel and international trade with the U.S. and Canada’s close proximity to the country. Statistics Canada reports that Canadian trips to the U.S. are down by 28.7 per cent from last year.
This case study of political consumerism reveals important distinctions compared to traditional boycotts.
Politically motivated boycotting is typically associated with those holding left-wing views.
In this case, both left-wing and right-wing people are participating in the boycott of American products. There are no ideological differences in participation in Canada and France. However, in the U.K., those on the right are more likely to boycott American products, services and travel than those on the left.
Existing research also shows well-educated people are more likely to boycott, particularly in Canada and France.
But in the Kantar survey, education did not impact participation in the boycott of American products, services and travel. All educational groups were motivated to participate.
Expressing discontent
Boycotting is a particularly attractive form of political behaviour in the case of international relations, because angry international citizens cannot simply contact Trump to express their discontent.
In fact, criticizing U.S. policies under Trump may result in being turned away at the American border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Instead, consumers can express their discontent through the choices they make when grocery shopping, when making travel plans, and finally, in their choice to refrain from using American-owned social media like Facebook.
This situation is also unique because Trump actively encourages citizens to boycott companies with which he disagrees. Despite his own calls to boycott companies, Trump and American officials have called Canadians “nasty” for boycotting U.S. alcohol and travel in retaliation of American tariffs.
Follow the leader?
Now Canada has lifted most of the retaliatory tariffs, with Carney explaining that Canada has the “best deal with the United States right now.”
Canadians may choose to follow the direction of their prime minister or they may view this as an opportunity to take more responsibility and continue to use their purchasing choices to influence trade relations.
The responses may also differ across countries.
The U.K. says it has negotiated the lowest U.S. tariff rate so far and therefore, British citizens may choose to end their boycotting.
In contrast, political leaders in France continue to criticize the European Union’s recent trade agreement with the U.S. In this case, French citizens may follow suit and continue to use their purchasing power to influence trade relations.
About the author: Shelley Boulianne is Professor in Communication Studies at Mount Royal University.
This article originally appeared in The Conversation.
