Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump is doing a pretty poor job of diplomacy when it comes to countries that are currently at war. And, to complete the set, he is also doing a pretty poor job of diplomacy when it comes to countries that are currently at peace. In fact, he is managing to encourage the sort of nationalistic fervor, and anti-[THE ENEMY] resentment that usually only happen when bullets start flying.
At this point, every reader of this site knows that the Canadians are furious with the United States, and are doing everything possible to express their displeasure, most obviously boycotting American-made products en masse. And now, Europeans are embracing that approach, too. For example, the Danes are pretty famously hot-tempered (see: Vikings), and don't much care for the talk about acquiring Greenland. So, there are boycotts of American products in that nation, too. The Danish Facebook page Boykot varer fra USA (Boycott goods from the U.S.) has 80,000 members (just don't tell them where Facebook is headquartered). The nation's largest supermarket chain, the Salling Group, has responded to customer demand and begun labeling non-American goods with red stars. "I have never seen the Danes so upset before," said electrician and carpenter Jens Olsen, echoing rhetoric that is common in Canada these days. Olsen is seriously considering getting rid of $10,000 worth of American-made tools, despite the hit to his bottom line.
There are wide-ranging boycotts in other nations, as well, among them France, Germany and Spain. The products most likely to be targeted, apparently, are sodas (especially Coke), snacks and condiments (especially Heinz ketchup), spirits (especially Jack Daniel's) and, of course, automobiles (especially Teslas). Interestingly, data is not perceived as a product in the same way, so companies like Facebook and Netflix are not feeling the pinch all that much.
It is not easy, at least for now, to judge the impact of all of this on the American economy. It won't be good, but it's going to take some time before we know if it's merely "not good" or if it's "disastrous." One of the earliest, clear indications will be in the tourist industry, since the height of travel season will soon be upon us, and since there is a LOT of data collected by, and about, tourist concerns.
During Trump v1.0, the U.S. tourist industry took a (pre-pandemic) hit of about $20 billion/year due to the President, mostly because of decreased travel from China, Mexico and the Middle East. Citizens of those nations did not like his racist rhetoric, and some of them did not feel safe traveling in Trump's America. Those dynamics will be in play again for the next four years, and probably heightened, given the administration's willingness to abuse or ignore due process when brown-skinned people are involved.
Meanwhile, the single-biggest foreign source of tourists to the U.S. is, of course, Canada. Quite a few folks from the Great White North have canceled their American travel plans for this year, and there's no particular reason they'll feel differently next year, or the year after, or the year after (unless they just cannot bear to miss out on the Olympics). As a result of the Trump v1.0 dynamic, plus the anger from Canadians and other Western tourists, it's currently estimated there will be a 5% drop in international travel to the United States this year, at a cost of $64 billion. And that's probably a best-case scenario. Many sources think the real number will end up in the double figures, perhaps as high as 20%. So, Trump could cost the American tourist industry north of $200 billion. And while a tariff can theoretically be reversed with a snap of his fingers, this can't be. The Canadians, the Danes, and all the others are not going to forget Trump's words, or his actions, anytime soon. (Z)