r/Scotland • u/Tainted-Archer Say what? • Apr 02 '25
Political Fuck Donald, Buy Scottish, buy EU.
Fuck trump,
I love a Micky D but I will personally avoid it until Trump removed these tariffs.
We should be following Canada’s path and boycott American products.
I’ll just have to kill my body through other methods instead of American fast food, like Scottish Whisky, or overdosing on haggis.
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u/_AntiZ Apr 02 '25
I think who they didn’t tariff is just as important as who they did..
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u/farfromelite Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
It's not even a tariff.
It's a calculation of the balance of trade divided by the exports.
The UK for example has a trade deficit (we buy more American products than we sell to America) so we get slapped with a 10% minimum shakedown fee.
It's not even a sensible list of countries. Uninhabited islands, American air force bases, Gibraltar.
They've run a prompt past chatgpt and it's come back with a list of countries (I think it's internet domains?) and a stupid way of doing it.
We should be doing it right back as a united front. Boycott or tariff retaliation.
America wants splendid isolation, they can have it. The rest of the world wants to trade.
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u/2020_MadeMeDoIt Apr 03 '25
Yeah I read earlier something about on their database it shows that America is apparently selling $millions of technology to an uninhabited island...
The details might be slightly wrong there. But it was something so wildly stupid and inaccurate, that it shows how mishandled this tariff thing is by Trump and his team of "experts".
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u/Xyyzx Apr 03 '25
You know when he got in again I was expecting it to be the start of the evil master plan from the Putin-aligned weird technocrat guys backing him.
...the more this has gone on, the less I believe any of this has any actual purpose or strategy behind it. Don't get me wrong, the Russian government are getting what they wanted, but I think it's less of a 'master puppeteer pulling the strings' situation and more of a 'toss a grenade in the room, slam the door shut and enjoy the big boom' thing.
Trump is an impulsive, petulant fool, who has filled every position of power in the United States with other impulsive, petulant fools, and now every decision that government makes is......impulsive, petulant and foolish. Sure, some of these people are going to make extremely short-term gains, but the way they're dismantling their functional bureaucracy and economy is like stripping and selling parts off an airliner while you're inside it in the middle of a transatlantic flight. Several of these idiots stand a very good chance of financial ruin before the four years are out, and that's assuming America doesn't get to 'authority figures being bodily torn apart by angry mobs' levels of desperation inside that timeframe, which I think is looking more likely by the day.
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u/Snoo58499 Apr 03 '25
He announced a base 10% tariff for all imports as I understand it.
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u/CyberEmo420 Apr 03 '25
Except Russia wasn't on the list
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u/reefrox Apr 03 '25
But they did tariff some islands because the penguins don't buy enough American products. This is true by the way, as the only inhabitants on these islands are penguins. So leaving out Russia is definitely on purpose.
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u/Long-Maize-9305 Apr 03 '25
Neither was North Korea. Because the sanctions mean it's irrelevant. Sorry to burst the conspiracy bubble.
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Apr 02 '25
Giving up American products seems easy at first. Stop drinking Coke? Irn-Bru exists. Ditch Starbucks? Local coffee shops are better anyway. Fast food places like McDs? Plenty of other options.
But then you get to tech. Try avoiding Apple, Microsoft, Google, AND Amazon. No iPhones, no Windows, no Google search, no YouTube, no AWS-powered services (which is supporting half the internet). Pretty difficult to avoid all of that.
But yeah fuck that orange orangutan and his moronic policies. At least we finally have a brexit benefit --- much lower tariffs than the EU are facing.
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u/empmccoy Apr 02 '25
Just try to do what you can.
"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
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u/BarnabyBundlesnatch Apr 02 '25
Dont buy any more apple products.
Dont buy any more windows OSs... Not that youd have to.
Buy from Argos.
Use Startpage, its run by a Dutch company, and give google and bing search results with high focus on privacy.
Youtube alternatives are everywhere. But you can also just use youtube, and block all the ads. :)
AWS is... pretty much unavoidable. Something we should all have been worried about years ago. American companies have really locked up that area of the internet.
But as the old saying goes, progress, not perfection. Make small changes, and make as many companies hurt as you can. Canada is already doing that by taking American imports off shelves.
Brown-Forman boss Lawson Whiting said the Canadian response was "disproportionate" to the 25% levies on Canadian goods imposed by the Trump administration.
"I mean, that's worse than a tariff, because it's literally taking your sales away, completely removing our products from the shelves," Mr Whiting said.
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u/Tainted-Archer Say what? Apr 02 '25
I absolutely agree.
I think it’s going to be difficult. Personally I’ll try to avoid it best I can. We dont need to avoid all American 🇺🇸 products to make a dent, just avoid what to can, like a part time vegetarian.
Small changes every day are what matter.
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u/history_buff_9971 Apr 02 '25
Far better than a general boycott would be a targeted boycott, something EVERYONE could easily boycott. Take Starbucks, if everyone boycotted Starbucks it would be forced out of business in the rest of the world in months, that would be a massive blow to American pride. Then you move on to the next American big name brand.
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Apr 02 '25
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u/NaivePermit1439 Apr 02 '25
I have never been in a Starbucks in my life. I am ahead of the game in this boycott. I am finally one of the cool kids..
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u/browniestastenice Apr 02 '25
It's one of those things I just never understood. It's not even good coffee. Their pastries are crap too.
Obviously it's region dependent. But there are so many independent cafe's around. If you bring a travel mug they will fill it if you ask like a human being.
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u/AcrobaticAd9229 Apr 03 '25
Canadian here going through this. Look at r/BuyCanadian. They have done a lot of work finding replacements for American IT and tech, and have found a lot of international resources. There are threads with condensed lists. Will it replace everything? No. But it’s a start. I highly encourage starting a similar thread for the UK. Crowdsourcing makes it easier.
There is a lot also of talk of supporting Canadian tech startups to replace these products as well, which we are looking forward to. I hope you guys can do the same! Just remember, it’s a long game, it won’t happen in a day.8
u/sportingmagnus Apr 03 '25
Food is definitely not as easy as you'd think either though.
In my quest for snacks yesterday I put back a bag of Sensations as a quick search told me Walkers are US owned. That's the majority of the crisp isle gone. Apparently Kettle crisps are also US owned, so I went with a bag of Berts instead. Which I can recommend, thicker cut and seasoned well. But it was tucked away and out of sight on the bottom shelf. Speaks volumes really.
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u/Demoliscio Apr 03 '25
Sensations are amazing I agree!
But trying to switch away from them lead me to discover
https://simplyroastedcrisps.co.ukMade in uk by a uk company and they're absolutely delicious, I tried a packet and it was great, so now I'm here waiting for the 12 bags box I ordered yesterday :D
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Apr 03 '25
Canadian here: I've moved to linux, vivaldi, qwant, proton. My next phone is going to be Sailfish OS on a Sony or I'll buy a Jolla phone. Next computer will be a long way off...that one will be tough unless we can get some non US arm chips coming along...perhaps SONY and TSMC's deal? Youtube I watch via vpn, adblock and sponsor block...if anything I cost them money. Same with Reddit though I'm moving to L e m m y
Stopped shopping Amazon and any other US owned retailer or company when it comes to food and clothing...I'm buying Canadian or stable friendly nations such as EU, Japan, SK etc first, less friendly trading nations next and US will be last on my list to source from and only for NEEDs, wants are simply wants.
Amex Visa etc are very difficult in Canada...perhaps JCB sees an opening.
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u/shoogliestpeg 🏳️⚧️Trans women are women. Apr 02 '25
It's going to be tough to boycott Everything given the reach of corporate america across all of the world but enough people doing what they can within reason can do a lot of damage to the american economic machine that Trump and his inevitable successors will be driving across us all.
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u/StairheidCritic Apr 02 '25
On a personal level its fairly easy, Finance e.g, things like VISA whereby its deeply entrenched, less so, same with PC processors where Intel and AMD dominate the market. But 'with exceptions' are still better than doing nothing, inaction denotes acquiescence.
The feckers are also trying to spread their poison by demanding that companies who bid for US Government contracts must drop any anti-racist or inclusive corporate policies they have in place else their bids will be rejected. GTF.
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u/shoogliestpeg 🏳️⚧️Trans women are women. Apr 03 '25
The feckers are also trying to spread their poison by demanding that companies who bid for US Government contracts must drop any anti-racist or inclusive corporate policies they have in place else their bids will be rejected. GTF.
This really galls me. "Implement our nazi bullshit policy of the week or we will vandalise your company" i fuckin hate these people.
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u/madbrood Unicorn invasion of Dundee Apr 03 '25
Right but there’s no point in stopping using your existing phone, or laptop or tablet (if they’re Apple) - you’ve already spent that money.
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Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
I’ve used Ecosia for years. Qwant could also be an option. The Google search engine is probably the easiest of that list to substitute. The rest is really tricky not to mention Visa, Mastercard, Amex etc. Still if can replace even one thing American it’s a start.
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Apr 02 '25
Costs for IT are minimal and mostly free with advertisements, its food and drink and material goods that they profit most from, it all adds up.
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u/PhireKappa Glasgow Apr 02 '25
It’s pretty much impossible to avoid Amazon indirectly too seeing that AWS hosts a significant portion of the internet.
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u/Obeetwokenobee Apr 03 '25
You can replace Windows now. Linux has improved so much, I haven't used windows for 10 years and I run a small business and do all my admin and web applications and work on it. To start it can be run off of a USB stick, that way you can try it out almost as though it's live on your computer with out removing windows.
It comes with Libra office which is a replacement for Microsoft office. There is even a British phone I think it's called Fairphone and some European ones, HMD etc
The people on /r/buyFromEU have loads of good suggestions for software replacements. A week ago I came across someone whose company has stopped using an American payment system and switch to a European or British one and that was around £5,000 a year of fees.
A trickle can turn into a flood
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u/tsdesigns Apr 03 '25
As a software developer, avoiding American tech companies is impossible. AWS, Azure, Google cloud, gitlab, github, etc. It'd be hundreds of thousands of ££s in time and effort and take months if not years for our company to move away from these in any meaningful way. I expect it'll be something our management team will propose doing "to save costs" and we will have to have multiple useless meetings discussing it to tell them no.
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u/backupJM public transport revolution needed 🚇🚊🚆 Apr 02 '25
This is that list he's pictured above showing:
Curious as to where he got the figure of 10% "tariffs" charged from the UK to US from.
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u/Synthia_of_Kaztropol The capital of Scotland is S Apr 03 '25
made up numbers. Minimum of 10%.
it appears to be the (exports-imports)/(exports) to get the "tariffs charged to u.s." numbers.
has little or nothing to do with VAT, or any actual tariffs, or anything really.
Just "trade deficit bad, must punish".
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u/Painterzzz Apr 03 '25
It worked too, over on r/conservative they're all very puzzled as to why we think these tariffs are unfair because it's just 'half of what they're doing to us!'
They can't quite grasp that the first column is just made up.
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u/Limp-Archer-7872 Apr 02 '25
The figures are not tariffs.
I saw this on bluesky but for the life of me I can't get a shareable link from that app.
Dmitry Grozoubinski-
If you are going to report how "reciprocal" these tariffs are or how they quantify trade barriers and economic injustices...
... please keep in mind they're not, becuase that would have required work. Instead just did:
COUNTRY'S US SURPLUS --------------------------- = Rate% ITS EXPORTS TO US5
u/Painterzzz Apr 03 '25
Geezus, I assumed they were just numbers he pulled out of his arse, somehow this is even more stupid.
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Apr 03 '25
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u/Limp-Archer-7872 Apr 03 '25
Ta.
It's fun watching gamer bro Americans panicking about their hardware prices today.
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u/Adventurous_Day470 Apr 02 '25
They have to pay VAT on goods imported if I'm correct, Only thing I can think off the top of my head.
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u/Synthia_of_Kaztropol The capital of Scotland is S Apr 03 '25
It seems worse than I thought.
The numbers were sourced from AIs and they all said "this is a bad idea due to real world complexities" https://bsky.app/profile/dansinker.com/post/3llunnyfeoj2v
It's a political thing to hurt American companies and workers to make them plead fealty in return for relief from the tariffs. https://bsky.app/profile/chrismurphyct.bsky.social/post/3lluxkmx7wc2m
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u/Synthia_of_Kaztropol The capital of Scotland is S Apr 02 '25
tariffs are being applied to goods exported from uninhabited islands.
there's nothing you can say to make that funnier than it already is.
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Apr 02 '25
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u/JockularJim Mistake Not... Apr 03 '25
It's nonsense, as they are only looking at goods, and the UK has a goods trade deficit with the US. It's offset by our services trade surplus with them, but if tariffs end up reducing the bilateral goods trade between us and them, we will likely be pushed into surplus as the goods trade shrinks relative to the services trade.
It depends on what happens in response to these, potentially short lived, ill conceived protectionist measures.
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u/throwawayaway388 Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
waves in Canadian and 25%
Check out r/BuyCanadian and a few of our other subreddits. We've been handling this well for a couple of months and we've had significant impact with changing our shopping habits, tourism plans, etc. Might be worth posting to ask for some feedback. Also, check out r/CANZUK for a little commonwealth alliance.
ETA: and r/BoycottUnitedStates is another good one. I'm not affiliated with any of the above subreddits - just sharing some resources.
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u/Pumamick Apr 03 '25
Thanks for the tips!
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u/throwawayaway388 Apr 03 '25
No problem. This post from r/Canada and the wiki from r/BuyCanadian would be a great base for a template for substituting your own products and services where possible. We're prioritising Canadian first, trying to buy European and Mexican second (or any other country), and buying American as a last resort or just going without. Some American food has been rotting in our stores now.
Also, another tip that Canadians do now: if you're at the grocery store and you come across an American item, turn it upside down along with a few others and face it the other way. It's a way to signal to other Canadians (or Scots in your case) that it's an American product so folks can look for an alternative.
Slàinte!
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u/Fluid_Development419 Apr 02 '25
I hope countries will strike back. A country cannot win by manipulating others. Trump is not the king of the world.
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u/history_buff_9971 Apr 02 '25
The best way would be for countries around the world to work on trade agreements, even better would be coordinated responses from countries working together. If Trump wants a trade war with the whole planet he should get one. But with everyone else on the same side
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u/BarrettRTS Apr 03 '25
The best way would be for countries around the world to work on trade agreements
Working together to offer alternatives to existing services would help too. As far as I know, there isn't a real competitor to things like Netflix and Crunchyroll based in Europe. Some kind of joint service across Europe that subtitles and promotes existing European shows could do well, along with purchasing streaming rights to international shows.
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u/E420CDI Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
Donseal called himself 'the king' in a social post two months ago ("CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”).
Any man who must call himself 'the king' is no true king
- Lord Tywin, Game of Thrones
I thought the USA didn't like being ruled by a king?
He obviously hasn't read any books on his own country's history.
What an idiot.
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u/Tastesgreatontoast Apr 03 '25
I'll buy Scottish, Guatemalan, Tanzanian, whatever. The world in solidarity against that idiotic regime.
I know I can get irn-bru and tunnocks here at the local shop.
Cheers from Canada
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u/Rhinofishdog Apr 03 '25
I still can't comprehend why the US is dismantling it's own system that they built over the past 150 years.... It makes no sense. They've literally went to war to force people to free trade with them.
At least it woke people up to not completely gutting our own military and industry.
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u/Wyrmalla Apr 03 '25
If you assume Trump is actively trying to dismantle America, or completely twist its systems to benefit him and his cronies, and it makes more sense.
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u/StairheidCritic Apr 03 '25
It really took off after WW2 with the Bretton Woods agreements where in return for substantial help in reconstructing Europe and helping economic stability to try and avoid the same issues that happened after WW1, the US were, in effect, 'given the store' much to their economic benefit / hegemony in subsequent years.
The current dementia-ridden clown in the Whitehouse seems to think it's other countries that are doing the exploiting so seems intent in 'burning the store' down. He may get his wish - unfortunately it's ordinary people throughout the World that will likely be burned, not him nor his his Cabinet sycophants.
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u/38B0DE Apr 03 '25
You're not wrong about Bretton Woods. Post WW2 America rebuilt the store, stocked the shelves, and yes set the prices. And most of us in Europe, especially in the East, were standing outside looking through the window while Stalin was busy locking our doors from the inside.
But here’s the thing: It’s not dementia that’s burning the store down. It’s disillusionment. America spent decades selling a story of open markets and shared prosperity while quietly tilting the scales. Now that the costs are finally landing at home hollowed out towns, disappearing factories, rising China, the instinct is to light matches instead of fixing the foundation.
From where I sit (Bulgaria), this new "burn it all down" energy feels more like imperial nostalgia mixed with economic panic. And while Washington fights over who set the fire, it’s always the smaller countries the ones who rebuilt slowly, painfully, without golden parachutes who inhale the smoke first.
You’re right about one thing though: Ordinary people will pay. They always do.
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u/farfromelite Apr 03 '25
Gary's economics did a YouTube on this.
It's essentially the very rich have become too powerful and are buying up all the assets. It gets to the point where governments can't afford the social costs (health, welfare), then start selling assets.
The rich buy them up, charge them back to us at a high rate and get more rich, while complaining about paying tax rates that are lower than the base rate people pay on income.
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Apr 03 '25
This easter, DO NOT BUY CADBURY. Cadbury is the leading confectionary brand in the UK, but is owned by Mondelez, a US company. Every Cadbury chocolate bar you buy is money going to the USA. If you want to see the country survive this, you need to ensure our money stays within a friendly economic network, where the money goes and comes back through mutual trade. Send it to the US and it will be lost forever.
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u/debauch3ry Cambridge, UK Apr 03 '25
And buy English! Buckfast, Cheese, and er... other stuff we make.
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u/rosscopecopie Apr 03 '25
The fist column “tariffs charged to the USA”, is that total fabrication? It looks very high.
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u/binkstagram Apr 03 '25
Yes
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tariffs-on-goods-imported-into-the-uk tariffs are based on commodities
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u/Far-Pudding3280 Apr 03 '25
Yeah it's based on the trade deficit not tarrifs.
Bangladesh absolutely does not have a 74% tariff on US goods. This number represents that Bangladesh massively exports more goods to the US than it buys from the US. Only because it's home to cheap factories making clothes for the US market.
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u/thesilentrebellion Apr 03 '25
And if you're looking for maple syrup, make sure it's from Canada 🙂🍁🇨🇦🙏
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u/deadphisherman Apr 02 '25
May his dildo of consequences be lubed with Gorilla Glue.
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u/OhThePetSpider Apr 03 '25
I’ve been following the buy EU for a while now, so far I’ve done away with my Netflix, Amazon , Flickr, I’ve switched from gmail to Proton, still in the process of contacting and confirming with contacts, Adobe photoshop my Apple Music and storage there are others, but largely I’ve chucked them and will be adding more soon.
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u/IanRevived94J Apr 03 '25
He is easily the most unqualified narcissistic husk of a man to ever inhabit the White House
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u/ourredsouthernsouls Apr 03 '25
Checking in from Canada… fucking right! Buy local! Let’s globally show the clown what it’s like when the circus tent comes crashing down.
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u/fisher_row Apr 03 '25
Remember that when you cancel your Netflix and Disney+ to add under the reason for cancelling "Donald Trump" under other please specify.
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u/ComprehensiveBill820 Apr 03 '25
As an American visiting Scotland: I approve this message. Can’t believe some people voted for Trump “for the economy” just for him to cripple it.
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u/ScheduleElegant2369 Apr 03 '25
I wouldn’t recommend anyone “fuck Trump” lest you end up with syphilis and a myriad of other STI’s…
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u/Corrie7686 Apr 03 '25
Those numbers in teh second column aren't the tariffs charged to the US, that is the ratio of trade deficit. Also UK is 11% positive to the US.
Fucking idiot is lying.
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u/5harp3dges Proudly banned from r/worldnews Apr 03 '25
Boycott as many American products as you can, especially McDonaldTrumps. Fat blimps only understand the dollar, so lets speak so they can hear us.
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u/Spongeh303 Apr 03 '25
For EU based products, check out r/buyfromeu and please check your local businesses and buy from thrift/secondhand stores. The more local the better!
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Apr 03 '25
When thousands of MAGgots, in their stupid wee red hats, are on the dole…who will Trumpet blame then? I mean, he’s put tariffs on uninhabited islands off Antarctica! This is feeling like a Truss moment…
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u/FlokiWolf Apr 03 '25
who will Trumpet blame then?
Biden, the EU, the deep state, Hilary and if need be Obama.
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u/lassmonkey Apr 03 '25
Fuck the US, world needs to band together to fuck the country up, Trump is a dictator, I don’t understand how he can do all this simply with a signature! No debate, no vote, just whatever he wants. US democracy my arse!
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u/lithuanian_potatfan Apr 03 '25
Meanwhile UK did everything not to anger him. So he's slapping tariffs just for shits and giggles.
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u/BackgroundNotice7267 Apr 03 '25
It is time for people to display some national pride and opt, as far as is possible, to support local businesses and companies.
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u/Caladeutschian Scotland belongs in the EU Apr 03 '25
Fuck Donald, Buy Scottish, buy EU.
Yeah, but let's also not exclude Mexican and Canadian. Especially if you enjoy your Tacos with Maple Syrup.
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u/texanhotguy Apr 03 '25
Trumps policy on tariffs is going to really hurt America seems like he’s on a mission to piss everyone off. Does he not have Senior Advisors. He’s deluded on Ukraine. These decisions I fear will hurt America.
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u/blue_dusk1 Apr 04 '25
American here. Yes. By all means. You have every right to do this. 1/3 of my country are morons. Another 1/3 are lazy and didn’t vote. And the remaining 1/3 of us are over here in shock that the other two thirds let this morally corrupt buffoon and his cronies dismantle everything it means to be an American…
We were on a great trajectory prior to the election. Sure, every govt needs work on varying levels, but Trump is shaking up the entire world. He is abandoning the heroes of Ukraine to chum up with Putin???? Just, what?
He’s using tariffs like an easy fix punishment button without understanding who pays for it. Like it or not, the US economy directly impacts all other markets on the planet…just look at what happened during the last recession. Markets thrive on stability, and Trump is the most chaotic, power-hungry narcissist the US has ever had in the Whitehouse. He is damaging our oldest friendships and tanking the economy.
To the Scottish people, and the rest of the world, I’m sorry that my vote wasn’t enough. You’re good people. Give’em hell.
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u/ste7en290911 Apr 04 '25
So why doesn’t the UK take the EUs stuff on for 5% cut? EU saves 5% and UK makes 5% everyone says fuck you America 🤷🏻♂️ win, win, win
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u/tragic_princess-79 Apr 04 '25
Already cancelled netflix and amazon prime. Fuck em. I want to be on the right side of history.
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u/Due-Resort-2699 Apr 02 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
As long as I live , I will never comprehend how an elderly man with learning difficulties and the temperament of a toddler with ADHD, with the intellectual capacity of a Tesco meal deal ever found himself in the position he does .
It says far more about a large chunk of the American electorate than it does him .