Major U.S. brands are warning that rising anti-American sentiment overseas is harming business as the world adjusts to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Newsweek reported on Saturday.
The outlet spoke to several professors and industry experts who warned that the long-term impact of diminishing international sales will eventually hit the U.S. economy as well.
Calls to boycott the U.S. began in the spring when Trump announced his tariffs, which have touched nearly every industry.
Business intelligence firm Morning Consult reported in April that tariff announcements coincided with a sharp rise in global anti-American sentiment, already leading to steep declines in consumer interest for some U.S. companies abroad — evidence, it said, that souring views of America are quickly damaging certain brands’ health.
In May, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski noted “an uptick in anti-American sentiment,” adding, “What we have seen in our survey work is that there has been an increase in people in various markets saying that they are going to be cutting back their purchase of American brands.”
Kempczinski cautioned again this week that international customers are avoiding U.S. brands. “The aura around America has dimmed a bit,” he told CNBC on Tuesday, saying that the classic burger chain would lean into its local appeal — “our locality” — rather than its “Americanness.”
Likewise, Jack Daniels’ parent company Brown-Forman noted a 62% decline in Canadian sales through its first quarter with executives citing the tension between U.S. and Canada as the primary factor. This week in a regulatory filing, Levi’s cited “rising anti-Americanism as a consequence of the Trump tariffs and governmental policies.”
Melbourne Business School professor of marketing told the outlet that her research into “international animosity” and its effects on consumer behavior imply that the rising tide of anti-American sentiment is “likely to have a substantial impact on U.S. companies.”
“Brands that signal ‘Americanness’ such as jeans, whiskey, and tech are most exposed to substitution toward local and European options when anti-U.S. sentiment spikes,” she said.
Trump declared on Tuesday that there will be serious economic consequences if the U.S. Supreme Court does not hear his appeal on a federal appeals court ruling last week that declared many of his administration’s tariffs to be illegal.
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