Calls for boycotting US products spread in northern Europe | Hacker News Reader

Calls for boycotting US products spread in northern Europe

lemonde.fr

26 pointsdoener10 comments

The irony of using Facebook to coordinate an American boycott is spectacular.

It seems Scandinavians can’t even imagine organising anything without creating an FB group for it (I should know, I’ve never been on FB and it has been a hurdle ever since I moved to DK 10 years ago).

Sweden joined NATO only last year after going through the whole Cold War without doing so.

The level of manipulation is indeed through the roof.

Some Norwegian company posted that they would stop selling fuel to US ships after "the biggest shitshow ever presented 'live on TV' by the current American president and his vice president". They've since deleted said post, and Norway says it will keep fueling US ships at its ports. [0].

But also, "tens of thousands of people have joined Facebook groups!"

Peak journalism.

I don't really think this is going to materialize, this is the same Europe that's been merrily buying Russian oil and gas during a war they're allegedly against. https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/eu-imports-of-russ... "EU imports of Russian fossil fuels in third year of invasion surpass financial aid sent to Ukraine"

... Kinda says it all.

Gas and oil are not imported by consumers; the transportation of raw materials is negotiated by states and handled by large companies - often with state involvement. It is not transparent to the consumer at the filling station where their gasoline comes from - just as it is not transparent to the person who heats their home with gas whether it is American LNG gas or Russian gas.

Tesla unit sales have already slumped by 47% in a growing e-car market in Europe: https://www.ft.com/content/ea2329e4-b4bc-4e2d-be34-e9a8ea311...

America buys from China, Brazil, Russia, and Iran even though we have not always had the best relationships.

The US cut its total trade with Russia from $16B in 2019, down to $2B in 2024. The US did this in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, because it saw the absurdity of arming the Ukrainians while funding the Russians. Europe on the other hand still wants cheap oil and gas, and that seems to be a priority over the welfare of Ukrainians who they claim to want to protect.

As for China Brazil and Iran... Well lets break this down.

Iran: Total trade volume is in range of $65 million, virtually all US exports TO Iran. Virtually all of the US exports to Iran are medicines, medical devices, vaccines, and similar things. It's not about making money, it's humanitarian.

Brazil: This was a weird choice, I get that you just went with "BRICS", but Brazil isn't invading any neighbors or considered a hostile state in the US.

China: Again, while there are emerging tensions and divides, it's also true that China and the US have strong economic ties. Trade between these countries amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars, and there's no pretense of ending that.

All in all there's not much of a comparison to trade with Russia.

I thought the point was the absurdity of trade with your adversaries. Why is it bad with Europe does it but fine when the US does it? Surely we could have eliminated all trade with Iran if we wanted, but the reality is we don't want to just like Europe does not want to stop trading for Energy with Russia.

If the point was about trade with adversaries why include Brazil? Anyway the point is about taking a side in a WAR and then maintaining lucrative trade with the side in that war you're against. I don't think it's hard to understand the difference between that, and trading with countries you simply don't get along with all of the time, like China.

My apologies about Brazil, I was thinking of Venezuela. The USA took a side in the Russian war and yet still traded with Russia. They took a side against Iran and many other contemporary Adversaries yet still maintained trade or worse gave away aid even when they did not have formal diplomatic relationships. Europe is not "at war" with Russia, at least not yet and neither is the USA yet both maintained trade with Russia in the face of sanctions.

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