Stand up to the bully - buy British!

I've been trying to buy British, in fact local, for a long time even before the current situation. Its just not always possible. There just aren't any British companies making or local retailers selling what I want at a price I can afford. Or I cant find a retailer locally selling the thing I need or want. Therefore I have to resort to buying online and that's almost always something imported. Even when I buy something from a local retailer I often find it was made in India or Taiwan or some such. I would stop buying USA goods but in some cases you don't even know that the company is a USA company in the first place. I just hope it all goes away in 4 years just like the jokers we have in charge here. Although, as far as UK is concerned, I can't see there's a better alternative either.

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You're just wanting here what Trump wants in the U.S. - to make imported goods too expensive so Americans buy American goods that are cheaper.

And, in the process, that creates more jobs for Americans.

But it's a good idea of yours for us all to just buy British goods, but not for him to want and encourage Americans to just buy American goods?

Very odd.
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I picked up from somebody else on Gransnet that there is an excellent Facebook group, called Buy British Made. You can search for products they have researched, today I’ve seen laundry baskets, and patio cleaners, and there are thousands of other products covered.

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Walgreens also bought Liz Earle and the prices jumped. After 20-years of buying 'Cleanse&Polish' they priced me out of their market.
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I like to buy British where I can to help with air miles on goods. To stand up to Trump though, would be more effective to NOT buy anything from the USA. We've all been deploring SE Asian goods because of sweated labour, but maybe that's a better option than buying something from Trump's USA? After all, the sooner ordinary Americans suffer because of these policies, the sooner we'll be rid of the menace that is Trump.

Do not visit the USA

If you need to go to North America then visit Canada.

It seems some posters have swallowed Trump’s rhetoric. It is too complex to go into here but it isn’t as simple as tit -for-tat. Along with many others, I haven’t eaten a McDonald’s for the last 50 years: eco disaster as far as I’m concerned. Also never go to Starbucks. As for Amazon, my method is to search for items on their website, find the company behind the product as it is very clearly stated and then if they are a UK company I find them through Google and buy direct. I have had conversations with small companies who are very grateful when people bypass Amazon as it costs them a lot of their revenue to sell through the US giant.

valdavi

I like to buy British where I can to help with air miles on goods. To stand up to Trump though, would be more effective to NOT buy anything from the USA. We've all been deploring SE Asian goods because of sweated labour, but maybe that's a better option than buying something from Trump's USA? After all, the sooner ordinary Americans suffer because of these policies, the sooner we'll be rid of the menace that is Trump.

So you're happy to pay for cheap rubbish and keep slave labour going, but are happy to try and starve Americans into submission. Double standards or what.
No tarrifs, free trade world wide, that's the answer. Consumers benefit, through lower prices, and increase in product variety, lots to read about this, but seems much the better option. Still I know nothing. Just sick and tired of the world as it is today, including the UK.

I hardly think Americans are going to starve because British consumers decide to buy goods made in our own country to support the UK when we can Freya5. You got a bit carried away there.

Uppercase79

I urge Boots customers to cultivate local pharmacies - Walgreen (who own Boots) are in a bad way, as is Boots. I find all the smaller Boots’ shops to have little stock and poor staff, it’s only the massive Boots in shopping malls who have any stock. There are fewer staff in the smaller Boots, and as someone who can’t stand for long, the queues are a no-no.

Our local Boots closed a while ago and is now an independant pharmacy offering lots of new services. Since all the LLoyds chemists in Sainburys have now closed too I'm having my prescriptions sent to the independant pharmacy and am getting a great service.
After reading a thread on here last week about the various supermarkets I went to Lidl for the first time in ages and got some real bargains. Many of their products are made in the EU so I'll be going there more often now.

Do you have Chemist Warehouse ? That seems to be the biggest one here. No idea who owns it, possibly China knowing us.

petra

Mercedes have had a plant in Alabama since 1995.
All engines and parts are made in Germany, exported to the US and assembled.
The reason: cheap Labour.
Several German car manufacturers are eying up the US to manufacture the whole vehicle because of the high energy costs in Europe.
Germany have been shafting the US for years irrespective of which president they had.

I think IKEA uses the US for cheap labor, too.

Cateq

Apparently Trumps rational for the tariffs is to crash the economy in order for interest rates to fall therefore allowing them to restructure their debt and reduce their repayments.

Cateq, you hit the nail on the head with this one. Good job.

Macadia

petra

Mercedes have had a plant in Alabama since 1995.
All engines and parts are made in Germany, exported to the US and assembled.
The reason: cheap Labour.
Several German car manufacturers are eying up the US to manufacture the whole vehicle because of the high energy costs in Europe.
Germany have been shafting the US for years irrespective of which president they had.

I think IKEA uses the US for cheap labor, too.

But is the cheap labour being deported?

Macadia

Cateq

Apparently Trumps rational for the tariffs is to crash the economy in order for interest rates to fall therefore allowing them to restructure their debt and reduce their repayments.

Cateq, you hit the nail on the head with this one. Good job.

Cateq
Of course!

The USA's debt is over $34 trillion.
They got in this mess now the rest of the world has to suffer.

I can’t help ask why do humans feel the need to buy so much? It makes sense to buy quality and keep it for a long time thus cutting down on landfill. Buy vintage or charity shop items, save a pile of money and also cut down on landfill. Simple.

Fine if you can trek round the charity shops.
I'm trying not to buy things I don't need, another reason to stay out of vintage or charity shops.

However, there'd be nothing to buy in the charity shops if other people didn't donate their surplus stuff!

Not to worry Allira , that the cheap labour is being deported because, great idea, they plan to make it easier to employ children.
Yes, Ronib, recycle, save money and the environment by shopping in charity shops.
Cateq, I thought they were trying to crash the economy, so that the very rich could hoover up resources and become more powerful.

Macadia

petra

Mercedes have had a plant in Alabama since 1995.
All engines and parts are made in Germany, exported to the US and assembled.
The reason: cheap Labour.
Several German car manufacturers are eying up the US to manufacture the whole vehicle because of the high energy costs in Europe.
Germany have been shafting the US for years irrespective of which president they had.

I think IKEA uses the US for cheap labor, too.

BMW parts made in Germany, exported, US assembled by robots. I'd think this matters not to those who buy expensive imports.

I suspect many Americans will still buy quality cars from Europe, even with a 25% tariff. Sales may well drop, but they won’t disappear. I looked up BMW as an example, they sold 16.9% of their cars to USA last year. Not being rude to the USA, but Europeans don’t want their huge gas guzzlers, our roads and petrol prices would prohibit them even if they were thought to be desirable.

Informative snippet:

" used Tesla values have dropped significantly in the UK, with some models experiencing a 22% price fall since February 2024, and Tesla models dominating the biggest used car price drops"

(I just googled it)

Casdon

I suspect many Americans will still buy quality cars from Europe, even with a 25% tariff. Sales may well drop, but they won’t disappear. I looked up BMW as an example, they sold 16.9% of their cars to USA last year. Not being rude to the USA, but Europeans don’t want their huge gas guzzlers, our roads and petrol prices would prohibit them even if they were thought to be desirable.

Agreed.

We don't drive through open spaces at high speeds. They do.

We've high price petrol, they've cheap gas.

Maremia

Not to worry Allira , that the cheap labour is being deported because, great idea, they plan to make it easier to employ children.
Yes, Ronib, recycle, save money and the environment by shopping in charity shops.
Cateq, I thought they were trying to crash the economy, so that the very rich could hoover up resources and become more powerful.

Oh yes, I forgot the children!
Brilliant idea. They don't need sleep.
Start 'em young - is seven too old to get them trained?

Yes, Ronib, recycle, save money and the environment by shopping in charity shops.

I'll have another declutter 😁

You seem blissfully unaware that the tariffs war wouldn’t be an issue if consumers cut down considerably on non essentials Allira. I buy books, DVDs and some children’s clothes from charity shops and then aim to return once used. Do you not understand this concept? £3 for a nearly new child’s winter jacket is an essential item btw.