A Danish Supermarket Hits Back at Trump's Tariffs

As anti-US sentiment increases across Europe, one retailer is giving shoppers a way to avoid American products.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Danish supermarket hits back at Trump's tariffs by Morgan Meeker
and Sarah Scholin read by Katharine Vassilopolos. Between the peaceful
Copenhagen waterfront and the city's traffic clogged Second Ring Road,
the Feisket Orvit shopping mall has become a battle ground
for the global trade wars. On the mall's first floor,

(00:21):
Kirsten Morgensen is holding a pack of rice noodles and
pondering how her shopping habits can fight back against the
US under President Donald Trump. As in any European supermarket,
products here are sourced from around the world. But last
month this branch of the up market grocery store Footex,
along with others owned by Denmark's Sealing Group, introduce a

(00:43):
new way for shoppers to avoid buying US products, small
black stars that indicate goods made in Europe. In the
drink's aisles, the Danish soft drink Phaxy Conti is displayed
with a star. Nearby Pepsi Max is not. There's a
star for a backs of Italian Ilkapolavoro wine, but not
for Californian Pino noir. The stars make it easier to

(01:06):
make a choice, said Morgenson, one of the few shoppers
and Photechs on a quiet Tuesday afternoon. The system helps
her support European firms and buy products that produce fewer
emissions because they haven't been shipped as far. Morgeson said,
so I use it for environmental reasons and at the
moment also to avoid supporting the Americans. Selling, a retail

(01:28):
group that owns Photechs and other supermarket brands, launched the
initiative after receiving messages from customers who wanted to buy
more groceries from European brands. Chief executive officer Anders Hayes
said in a recent post on LinkedIn. The company has
since introduced the stars across most of its supermarkets and
plans to roll them out across the rest before summer.

(01:50):
A spokesperson said across Europe, consumers are reacting to the
Trump Administration's tariffs and to the derogatory comments US officials
have made about the blog. Social media posts show tubs
of Philadelphia cream cheese turned upside down in German grocery stores,
while boycott USA stickers have appeared in French supermarkets. Meanwhile,

(02:12):
Tesla sales have fallen sharply across Europe, and Tesla's showrooms
in the Netherlands and Germany have been vandalized. As the
trade war escalates, the supermarket alcohol aisle has become central
to tensions with the US and EU sparring over tariffs
on American whisky, French champagne and other drinks. It's an

(02:32):
anxious time, said Chris Swanger, president and CEO of the
Distilled Spirits Council, a US trade organization. The industry on
both sides of the Atlantic has thrived over the past
three years since tariffs from Trump's first term were lifted,
he said. Between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty four,
American whiskey exports to the EU, the industry's largest overseas market,

(02:56):
increased sixty percent to six hundred and ninety nine million dollar.
Brand America is taking a beating, said Jacob Keirkagard, a
senior fellow at Brussel's think tank Brugal. Keirkergard is himself
among the Europeans turning away from American made products. Before
Elon Musk became a Trump ally, he was thinking about

(03:17):
buying a Tesla, but he's had to rethink since Musk
became a key player in the Trump administration and began
intervening in European political affairs, I would not consider buying
a Tesla because of that, he said. In a turbulent
period for EU US relations, Denmark has had a particularly
rocky ride. Alongside the threat of tariffs, the Trump administration

(03:40):
has publicly clashed with Danish Prime Minister Meta Frederickson after
Trump repeatedly expressed his intention to take over Greenland, a
semi autonomous Danish territory. Since February, ninety thousand people have
joined a Danish Facebook group called Boycott US Goods, where
members share pictures of life local shops promoting Danish products.

(04:02):
In one, palettes of Jolly Cola soft drinks, a Danish brand,
sit for sale beneath a big sign advertising Danish soda. Similarly,
at netufrisk, a, Danish organic drinks maker CEO tire Skilled
fur Hoa said there have been several requests from restaurants
looking to change their soda offering to Danish alternatives. We

(04:24):
have been in dialogue with several customers, some of whom
directly mention the current political situation as the reason they
want to phase out American brands. Fur Hooa said in
a statement, not everyone is avoiding ubiquitous US brands. On
Potex's shelves sit famous American labels such as Coca Cola,
Oreo and Colgate Toothpaste. One shopper in the beer isle

(04:47):
said he hopes EU US relations will improve soon because
he doesn't want to make a change. Other shoppers, who
all declined to share their names, said they planned to
wait to see how the trade wars played out before
before switching away from US products. Buying local can present
a conundrum, given complex global supply chains that obscure the

(05:07):
country of origin of some goods, said Anne lemon Ericson,
consumer economist at Danish bank Sidbank. The Coca Cola trademark
is American, but the coke sold in bottles in Denmark
is manufactured by Carlsburg, a local licensee of the brand.
If you boycott a brand like Coca Cola, you actually
boycott things made in Denmark, said lemon Ericson. Saling counts

(05:32):
a product as made in Europe and worthy of a
star if the owner of the trademark is European. In Fotex,
some shoppers said the idea behind made in Europe Stars
should be expanded to provide consumers with even more information.
Organic coffee shop owner Mick Schultz said he was trying
to buy Danish goods and avoid US made products even

(05:54):
before the trade wars broke out. Schultz, who was on
the hunt for healthy snacks, said he will welcomed information
that would help him avoid buying products with lots of
artificial additives. When it comes to that, he said Americans
do have a bit of a challenge.