Many European consumers are starting to avoid US products and services in what appears to be a decisive and potentially long-term shift away from buying American, according to a new assessment by the European Central Bank.
In April, Trump imposed a 10% blanket tariff on America’s trading partners, and threatened “reciprocal tariffs” on many of those, including the European Union. Companies like Tesla and McDonald’s are seeing customers in Europe put off by “Made in America.”
“The newly imposed US trade tariffs on European products are causing European consumers to think twice about what’s in their shopping cart,” the European Central Bank wrote in a blog post about its research on consumer behavior. “Consumers are very willing to actively move away from US products and services.”
What is new, the central bank said, is a “preference” among European consumers “to move away from US products and brands altogether,” no matter what the cost. That was the case even for households that could bear the brunt of higher prices.
“Even though they could afford more expensive US products and services, they consciously choose alternatives,” the bank said. “This suggests that consumers’ reactions may not just be a temporary response to tariff increases, but instead signal a possible long-term structural shift in consumer preferences away from US products and brands.”