Avoiding US goods and services – from tech to whisky to air travel – has forced many to find a new way of living
This week the US imposed 50% tariffs on US$20bn (£15bn) of Canadian goods, and Mark Carney, the country’s prime minister, has vowed to match them “dollar for dollar” after the collapse of trade talks between the two countries last weekend. Donald Trump retaliated on Thursday by ordering the federal government to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America.
Such actions have added fuel to a widespread boycott of US products and services by Canadians that began early last year in response to the president’s trade war and threats to annex his northern neighbour.
More than 3,500 people from across Canada shared with the Guardian via an online callout how they have made changes to their lives in response to the US administration’s political and economic stance. Many expressed deep anger and sadness, but remained resolute that this was now a new way of living.
Yup. I want a Canadian branded phone. I’m looking at a Motorola phone. I’ve heard they have a version coming out with grapheneOS that’s open sourced and was started by a Canadian.
Right now, I’m still stuck with a lot of US tech that I’m chained to. I’m looking to unchain that tech, but those are harder to come by.
I do have a smart watch though. It’s called UNA Watch. It’s the first user repairable / replaceable modular watch and it’s designed and produced (I believe) in house in Scotland. It’s still early development, but I’m hopeful it’ll help unshackle more US tech off my body.
Motorola/Lenovo gets a close to pass for me for being a Chinese/American conglomerate. Lenovo is preferable to HP or Dell in my eyes. Especially because of BDS.
For phones I buy from Nothing/CMF. British company, made mostly in China and India I believe. I suspect they might drop a Graphene compatible device sometime. It seems to fit their brand.
Thanks for the watch recommendation. Ill look that up!
There’s also Fairphone, which I think is Dutch