General American boycott may backfire
It’s a sign of Canadians’ evolving good global sense that many who vehemently opposed free trade with the United States 30 years ago are today insulted by Donald Trump’s crude protectionism. We recognize that we’re a trading nation. In fact, if Trump and company are to be believed, we’re downright diabolical about it. Our prime minister is “dishonest” and a negotiating backstabber, we’re told. It gets our normally cool Canadian blood boiling to hear such calumnies flung at Justin Trudeau even as the Americans slap fat tariffs on steel and aluminum.
So what can we ordinary (and offended) citizens do? While the prime minister braves the slings and arrows of personal invective, and as even his political foes more or less close ranks behind him, how can the rest of us confront the malodorous plume of non-sequiturs, nonfacts and ubiquitous brain farts aimed our way from the White House?
There’s well-meaning talk of #BuyCanadian campaigns and consumer boycotts. Snowbirds: Avoid Florida this year; enjoy the Caribbean instead. Don’t attend a Broadway show; wait for the touring production in Toronto later. Ordering online from American companies such as Amazon, or taking your date to a Hollywood-produced movie? Don’t: If you buy American goods, the trade terrorists win!
It’s fun to think about how we might damage the American economy by not driving across the border for a standard bit of weekend bargain shopping. But it’s also not practical. Nor is it even desirable.
First, boycotts aimed at whole countries tend not to have much impact beyond, perhaps, the moral satisfaction of the boycotters, which I don’t dismiss, but that’s really the main effect. Activists fond of recalling the boycott against South Africa during the apartheid regime tend to ignore other factors that ultimately prompted reform, starting with a globally admired freedom fighter, and a government that actually wanted to trade with others and valued its international status. Trump’s whole schtick is that he apparently likes protectionism. And he doesn’t value his global status. Second, boycotts aren’t exactly surgical strikes, my fellow well-intentioned consumers. Probably, that talented Broadway crew doesn’t support Trump’s misinformed prattling. Hollywood’s obviously not with him: I offer you Robert De Niro. American entrepreneurs aren’t necessarily White House acolytes either. Amazon owner Jeff Bezos is a frequent target of Trump’s economic diatribes. In short, Americans are not their president, and their president isn’t America. I mean, we’re the ones always reminding everyone that Hillary Clinton swept more of the popular vote than did her opponent. The convenience store owner you won’t be doing business with if you cancel your U.S. camping trip this year really isn’t the right target for the wrath of your wallet. (Also, if you’re not boycotting Chinese goods — a country where leaders don’t waste time tweeting; they just toss people in prison for extended periods without due process — it seems a bit of a double standard to boycott produce from Florida.) Narrow, symbolic boycotts of specific government targets: Now, that, I could get behind. In Ottawa, there are growing calls for the 4,000 or so people who are invited to the U.S. Embassy for the big Fourth of July bash each year to maybe not attend this time. Invitees to U.S. embassies around the world should consider skipping their local parties too. It’s not really harsh economic punishment, and it won’t hurt the average American; it will garner headlines as the diplomatic embarrassment it is. Beyond that, what should we do? As Star Trek’s JeanLuc Picard would say: “Engage.” Americans want to hear from Canadians just now. So keep those U.S. vacation plans, but practise a little personal diplomacy when south of the border. Or, if you’re on social media, suppress the glib insults and chat reasonably and calmly (yes, you can) about the damage tariffs do to both economies. When you meet American tourists here, focus on the constructive parts of the Canada-U.S. relationship. It’s been a strong one. It can be again. We’re a trading nation — let’s trade ideas too.