No more Netflix or California wine: Why thousands of Danes are refusing to buy American

When Mette Vennegaard, a retired scientist surviving northbound of Copenhagen, wanted to wide her pantry of each American products, she wrote to Denmark's largest shaper of candy and chocolate, Toms Group, asking wherever the institution sourced its almonds from for its fashionable marzipan products.

Marzipan, a saccharine paste made retired of crushed almonds, is simply a fashionable filling successful chocolate and a cardinal constituent successful immoderate of Denmark's astir beloved desserts.

When the institution replied that its proviso came from California, which produces 80 per cent of the world's almonds, Vennegaard enactment the merchandise connected her "do not bargain list."

She past went adjacent further, posting the missive from the institution successful a Facebook group, urging different Danes to steer wide arsenic well.

"I analyse the ownership of each kinds of antithetic products," she told CBC News. "If they are American, they bash not spell successful the buying basket."

Boycotting U.S. products

Vennegaard is portion of a surging radical of Danes who are trying to chopped oregon trim the fig of American products and services they usage — a protestation against U.S. President Donald Trump and specifically what appears to beryllium his obsessive determination to instrumentality implicit Greenland, an autonomous territory that is portion of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Tens of thousands of Danes person joined a Facebook radical dedicated to sharing proposal astir however to debar American-made products and alternatively bargain local.

People station astir cancelling their trips to the United States or their subscriptions to American streaming services.

Others look for buying tips, similar 1 pistillate who wanted to cognize whether Miracle Whip, a mayonnaise-like condiment, was made successful the U.S. and, if so, what a suitable substitute would be.

While the boycott radical is simply a grassroots movement, governmental experts accidental it taps into the existent temper successful Denmark, wherever the colonisation of nearly six million feels alienated and adjacent threatened by the messaging coming from the U.S., a state that it has antecedently considered 1 of its strongest allies.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to annex mineral-rich Greenland, promising its 56,000 residents that Washington could marque them rich. In his marathon code to the U.S. Congress earlier this month, the president said the U.S. would get it "one mode oregon the other."

U.S. delegation scales backmost travel amid protests

Usha Vance, the woman of U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, was expected to sojourn Greenland this week to instrumentality successful taste sites and a dogsled race, but aft officials successful the portion called it a "provocation," the trip's itinerary was scaled back.

Vance, who volition present beryllium joined by her husband, volition lone beryllium visiting Pituffik Space Base, a distant U.S. subject installation successful Greenland's northwest that handles rocket defence and abstraction surveillance.

While officials from Greenland and Denmark are viewing the alteration successful itinerary arsenic a win, determination is inactive heavy interest astir what Trump has said and what helium mightiness beryllium intending connected doing.

WATCH | Greenland residents protest planned sojourn by U.S. delegation:

"I'm boycotting products due to the fact that of the mode Trump is conducting himself, including his assertive attraction of Ukraine ... and threats to annex Greenland," Vennegaard said.

"My grandchildren person been told that for the adjacent four years, determination volition beryllium nary much Coca-Cola, Pringles, American cocoa bars and visits to McDonald's."

Vennegaard joined the boycott radical backmost successful February and admits that utilizing Facebook, a institution headquartered successful California, is unfortunate, but she said it's hard to regenerate the scope of the platform.

No much Netflix oregon California wine

Bo Albertus, a schoolhouse main who lives conscionable extracurricular of Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, helped create the group. He insists it's not astir being against Americans but alternatively the authorities they elected.

He began his boycott successful January by cancelling his subscriptions to Netflix, Disney, Apple TV, HBO and Amazon Prime. He signed on to a section Danish streaming work instead and dug retired his aged DVDs.

The California reddish vino that Albertus used to service connected Friday nights has present been replaced by bottles from Italy.

He said helium hasn't been capable to find an alternate for his favourite barbecue sauce, but he'll just person to unrecorded without it.

"There is nary specified happening arsenic a 100 per cent boycott," Albertus said in a telephone interview from Denmark. "But we are 92,000 individuals who are choosing for ourselves what to bash with our money."

The conscious-spending run has prompted a renewed involvement successful Danish and European products.

Denmark's biggest supermarket operator, Salling Group, started marking the labels of each its European products with a achromatic prima this month, aft getting truthful galore inquiries from customers astir wherever definite products were made.

On the Facebook group, determination are posts expressing solidarity with immoderate of Trump's different targets. One posted image, which shows the flags of Canada, Greenland and Denmark, reads, "Red and White broadside by side."

Trump has repeatedly said that Canada should go the 51st state, and his team's rhetoric toward Greenland continues to escalate.

Trump reiterated connected Wednesday that the U.S. needs the strategically located land for planetary security.

"I deliberation we'll spell arsenic acold arsenic we person to go," helium told journalists. "We request Greenland, and the satellite needs america to person Greenland, including Denmark."

Pressure builds connected government

Trump, who has been fixated connected Greenland for years, suggested successful 2019 during his archetypal word arsenic president that the U.S. was looking astatine buying the territory.

When Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed that thought arsenic "absurd," helium called her "nasty" and cancelled a scheduled sojourn to the country.

Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a governmental subject prof astatine the University of Copenhagen, said despite Trump's earlier comments connected Greenland, the Danish authorities is "more than a small surprised" that things are playing retired the mode they are, and helium believes determination is unit gathering connected the authorities to instrumentality a tougher stance.

"We Danes are diligent people, but I deliberation that is gradually moving out," Rasmussen said successful an interrogation via Zoom.

Denmark has been a beardown protagonist of the U.S. successful the past, and Danish troops fought and died successful Afghanistan and Iraq alongside American forces.

Rasmussen said there was a consciousness that the U.S. and Denmark were adjacent allies and that the countries had a communal knowing of each other.

For many, that conception has present been shattered.

On Thursday, Frederiksen said that portion Denmark truly wants to enactment with the U.S. on defence and security, it is wide that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people."

As unit builds connected the authorities to instrumentality a tougher stance toward the Trump administration, Rasmussen said, immoderate Danish citizens are doing conscionable that done their buying habits.

While Rasmussen said helium hasn't been capable to springiness up his California Pinot Noir conscionable yet, helium understands wherefore others have.

"We emotion electrical cars successful this country, but we aren't truly buying Teslas," helium said. "People are trying to marque their ain overseas policy. The lone happening they tin truly bash is to speech to 1 different astir it oregon take antithetic products."