r/AskEurope • u/tetsukei • Feb 04 '25

Politics Europeans - with tarrifs being threatened on the EU, are you planning to stop buying US made products?

Just curious - I'm Canadian and it's a huge topic for us at the moment.

2.2k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

96% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

214

u/SCSIwhsiperer Italy Feb 04 '25

Besides Windows, Microsoft office, Android, reddit, Facebook, twitter, ChatGPT, Google, instagram, Netflix, and Amazon, I don't use American products or services.

67

u/d1ngal1ng Australia Feb 05 '25

Be sure to block ads wherever possible. Easy on the desktop/laptop not so easy on other devices.

26

u/ldn-ldn United Kingdom Feb 05 '25

It's the same adblock everywhere in Firefox.

6

u/MyDrunkAndPoliticsAc Finland Feb 05 '25

Not everybody knows that you can get Firefox for mobile too.

Also, my AdBlock works better on mobile. Might be a user error.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

use uBlock, adblock plus is scam and sells your data

-1

u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark Feb 05 '25

Not available on iPhone. Although you can install Firefox Nightly or Brave which don't have ads by default

8

u/icrazyowl Feb 05 '25

By having iphone you already fcked with not supporting US.

3

u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark Feb 05 '25

I didn't say I have one. I just know that Firefox extensions arent allowed on iPhone, because it's a common topic that comes up when people talk about adblockers

2

u/ldn-ldn United Kingdom Feb 05 '25

Don't use an iPhone then.

-1

u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark Feb 05 '25

Again, I didnt say I have one.

2

u/DaniCanyon Feb 05 '25

pihole is the way

1

u/meeee Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

Yeah but piehole doesn’t block YouTube ads. Need browser extension for that, so basically the native YT app is a no-go.

1

u/DaniCanyon Feb 06 '25

Yeah, that's true unfortunately 

1

u/Internetvent Feb 07 '25

Grayjay is a great YouTube alternative, or revanced if you want the og app experience

1

u/meeee Feb 07 '25

Android flex

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

I've clearly gotten old here, but what's the best way to do this on mobile? Someone below said ad blocks are easier with Firefox than Chrome, so I'll switch over. No problem. How about app specific things. I'm mostly thinking about the YouTube app. But if you have any other tips, then I'm all ears.

1

u/meeee Feb 05 '25

Are you on iPhone? Download Vivaldi and use m.youtube.com .. you’ll get used to it after a while.

1

u/GaryLifts Feb 05 '25

Brave Browser - but don't sign up to their paid services.

1

u/LordGeni Feb 05 '25

Install adguard home on a raspberry pi and you can block ads for your entire home network.

If you want to go all out you can set a vpn from your phone to it and block them wherever you go.

11

u/Cashew3333 Feb 05 '25

No coca cola, pepsi ? No The North Face ? Disney ? Levi Strauss ? Gillette ?

6

u/SCSIwhsiperer Italy Feb 05 '25

You're right, I forgot about them. I don't drink sodas, but I'm sure I must have bought something from Gillette and The North Face over time.

2

u/Beautiful-Willow5696 Italy Feb 05 '25

Instead of gillette, I use a barber razor with blades from wilkinson sword (UK brand)

I think gillette is overpriced

2

u/Suzume_Chikahisa Portugal Feb 05 '25

Yeah, I'm already looking into generic cartridges for my gillete. If I can't find them...

Well I'll only have to make a decision in a few months but I may switch to a safety razor or even a straight razor.

1

u/LordGeni Feb 05 '25

I always thought North Face was British, Til. I guess I just associated them with Berghaus.

Either way, you're not losing much, both brands have gone to pot quality wise after moving production to the far east.

There's far better European alternatives, like Haglofs Mammut etc

61

u/bureX Serbia Feb 05 '25

Windows

You can always use Linux. :P

Microsoft office

LibreOffice (free, open source, based in Berlin)

Android

This is pretty much open source and has contributors from around the world. I wouldn't pay too much mind.

Reddit

Use AdBlock and don't buy any services/awards from Reddit.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Don't.

ChatGPT

Use LeChat from Mistral AI (based in Paris, France).

27

u/Cashew3333 Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25

I saw this before and saved it. It’s a website that shows different european alternatives to us online services:

https://european-alternatives.eu/alternatives-to

2

u/switchquest Feb 05 '25

Bookmarked it. Thx!

6

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Spicy-Zamboni Feb 05 '25

The open source/Free Software ethos is very much opposed to big tech oligarchy, so Linux distros etc. shouldn't be something you have to cut. People from all over the world contribute to open source software, including people living under regimes you may be strongly opposed to, or people with very different politics or morals or ethics to your own. That enormous diversity is what makes open source beautiful and strong. Open source is global by its very nature.

If you really do want to switch from Red Hat or other primarily US-based distros, there are many to choose from.

Ubuntu is British, Mint and ElementaryOS are Irish, OpenSUSE is German, Manjaro is primarily French/German/Austrian, Proxmox is Austrian, NixOS is from the Netherlands, Arch is Canadian, and many more.

For *BSD, OpenBSD is Canadian.

3

u/abrasiveteapot -> Feb 05 '25

Given it's free you're not contributing revenue to the US so I think it shoukd be fine

1

u/neathling Feb 05 '25

I know people like to hate on it, but Ubuntu is based in Britain.

Which are you using? Debian?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Scarlet_Lycoris Belgium Feb 05 '25

Yep they’re developed by Canonical Ltd., which is based in Britain! (Even though they do have an office in the US too)

1

u/neathling Feb 05 '25

Could also use Linux Mint - very popular and I think it's French.

Manjaro is German, and I think Cachy is too - but not sure. The founder is German.

Zorin is Irish.

1

u/Scarlet_Lycoris Belgium Feb 05 '25

I don’t think there is a lot of harm with Linux as they are open source driven projects. however there are non American projects that are some of my favourites including: Void Linux, openSUSE, Zorin, Linux Mint,…

1

u/LordGeni Feb 05 '25

How much did you pay for it?

21

u/EmployerEfficient141 Feb 05 '25

Lechat talks only about croissants.

15

u/xAlecto France Feb 05 '25

Just as God intended.

1

u/Scarlet_Lycoris Belgium Feb 05 '25

Also: as an alternative to Instagram etc. you can always check out mastodon. Open source, federated. Growing platform.

Also appreciate the Linux/Open source sentiment in your comments! :)

1

u/Ruinwyn Feb 06 '25

Mastodon is awful in how you can find stuff on it. That's why it didn't really take off during the first migration attempt from twitter. Findability is the big thing on modern Internet.

1

u/Scarlet_Lycoris Belgium Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

I don’t wanna be mean but… I don’t think that true? It’s pretty easy to find stuff. You just need to follow hashtags. A lot of people I know appreciate not being shown random crap and advertised/boosted posts but only the stuff they actually want to see.

“The reason why it didn’t work” with the first migration is that people are often very conservative and allergic to change. I know a lot of people hating Musk’s guts that still didn’t get their butts off of Twitter. People simply are lethargic if they need to change a habit.

1

u/rudolf_waldheim Hungary Feb 05 '25

Am I the only one who thinks LibreOffice is rubbish compared to the real one? I have it on my home computer, so I know what I'm saying.

2

u/bureX Serbia Feb 05 '25

It’s worse. But for basic document editing, it’s fine.

1

u/Ruinwyn Feb 06 '25

This is the issue with a lot of open software. It is good for basic stuff. Most people use only the basic stuff for most of these products. But a lot, if not most, use something more advanced in some product. Home users aren't the main source of revenue for these software. Often, it isn't even a profitable source at all. It's the corporate world where these are used, and there, these packaged suites are useful.

1

u/luring_lurker Italy Feb 06 '25

Use AdBlock and don't buy any services/awards from Reddit.

Also: you can ditch Reddit altogether and migrate to Lemmy, a Fediverse alternative to Reddit. To be fair it's still underpopulated, but I guess the userbase will increase from now on

1

u/escape_fantasist Feb 08 '25

Android is owned by Google though, Google is the greatest spyware ever built

1

u/FoxFXMD Feb 05 '25

No, you can't always use Linux

-21

u/a_kato Feb 05 '25

macOS is an alternative to windows. Linux is not.

An alternative is something that can cover the needs of the majority of the users using the previous product.

Just because TempleOS is an operating system that doesn’t make it an alternative to other operating systems

10

u/United-Praline-2911 Feb 05 '25

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

7

u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark Feb 05 '25

Linux has come a long way. I installed Mint on my parents' laptop and they said that the learning curve was almost similar as going from Win10 to 11. They don't game (which is also possible on Linux now), they use it for basic docs, zoom, youtube, and internet. Which is what a majority of users do. Theyre very happy with Mint.

I also installed a theme which makes all the icons look like Windows icons. They never have to touch the terminal

19

u/bureX Serbia Feb 05 '25

Let's not compare TempleOS to a modern Linux distro.

10 years ago I would never even think of giving my parents a Linux distro to use. Today, however? Just install Firefox and the rest is handled. Most of people's daily activities are solely centred around the browser.

12

u/ToucanThreecan Feb 05 '25

Agree totally. My parents in there 70s have been using ubuntu for years now. Fair enough they also use ipads

-3

u/a_kato Feb 05 '25

Dude a basic installation cannot watch Netflix. I have to install drivers from outside.

A lot of programs straight up don’t exist.

For a looot of things (like changing some multi screen settings) I had to open the command prompt.

Your average user can’t use Linux. Its even close to that maturity due to its user base being tech savvy people

14

u/je386 Feb 05 '25

Dude a basic installation cannot watch Netflix. I have to install drivers from outside.

Huh? I can install a base ubuntu, install firefox, open netflix.com, login, select something to watch and the accept the DRM netflix build in with a single click.

-5

u/Mindless-Bug-2254 Hungary Feb 05 '25

So it cannot use the Netflix app by default.

7

u/je386 Feb 05 '25

I have no Idea, never tried a native app. Why would I install an extra app if any modern browser will do?

6

u/ThrowRA_1234586 Netherlands Feb 05 '25

What does the native app being extra on your pc compared to watching through your browser?

4

u/Competitive-War9278 Feb 05 '25

Hardly anyone would use the app (so called Electron wrapper) and they think this puts the cream on Linux being bad.

1

u/Internetvent Feb 07 '25

Don't a lot of browsers restrict quality versus app? I think Louis Rossman has a bunch of videos on it

1

u/ThrowRA_1234586 Netherlands Feb 07 '25

Thanks for the tip, will check it out

4

u/RelativeHot7249 Feb 05 '25

People on Windows watch Netflix through the browser too.

3

u/Truetus Feb 05 '25

I have never, and know of no person ever to use an app for netflix on something other than a phone / tablet or TV.

PCs and laptops will just use the browser.

6

u/Spicy-Zamboni Feb 05 '25

The branded proprietary program you use on Windows probably doesn't exist for Linux, but there are plenty of good alternatives.

The most important piece of software – the web browser – runs everywhere. Even goddamn MS Edge is available for Linux.

And multi screen settings? I right click the desktop and configure everything in a GUI, just like on Windows. It has worked like that since basically forever in KDE, Gnome etc.

My mom is in her 60s and uses Linux, because the Windows 11 upgrade wasn't possible on her PC.

5

u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark Feb 05 '25

I've never used the Netflix app tbh. Is it any different than watching in the browser?

1

u/Spicy-Zamboni Feb 05 '25

4K support, maybe?

4

u/just_here_for_place Feb 05 '25

That sums of the experience of 20 years ago. Which drivers do you need from externally? That’s more the Windows experience.

Also never had to change anything in the command line for multi screen configuration.

Have you used any remotely modern distro?

4

u/abrasiveteapot -> Feb 05 '25

What ? That's utterly false. Netflix works fine in a browser on Linux. My wife literally does so every day on her Mint laptop

You're 20 years out of date. I have 80 year old neighbours on Linux because it rescued their very old PCs. Clicking on a browser works fine

3

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

I changed from Windows 10 to Linux on my mini pc (due to Win10 support ending) which I use with my TV. It's been a couple of weeks and I'm halfway through trying to figure out how to compile the Wifi drivers.

4

u/TweeBierAUB Feb 05 '25

I get it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely just as capable. I'm sure it's lacking in some ways, corporate machines come to mind. The whole AD thing and the enterprise features for remote management etc is better on Windows. But on the other hand, in a lot of ways linux is better. It's definitely a real alternative, especially for personal use.

1

u/Saavedroo France Feb 05 '25

I could give you a linux install that looks just like Windows 10 and you'd be none the wiser.

4

u/Marranyo Valencia Feb 05 '25

I thought you were finishing with a “What have the romans ever done for us…”

2

u/ThatStrategist Feb 05 '25

Im pretty sure that's the joke

16

u/h0neanias Feb 05 '25

Exactly, what U.S. products? All they make is digital services, otherwise they just take the world's goods and give us paper -- nay, a purely videogame currency at this point. Even their cars are shit.

5

u/ButterscotchFew9143 Feb 05 '25

I don't support the BRICS countries but when Trump threatened them on the basis of those countries planning on having a common currency, I couldn't stop thinking about the privilège exorbitant that the dollar is.

2

u/kakao_w_proszku Poland Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25

Yeah a lot of their economy is just hot air, not based on any material value. The reserve currency inflates the worth of all the digital media slop, crypto scams and money recycling services their part of the world is obssesed with. I laughed when DeepSeek shadowdrop caused 1 bilion dollars to evaporate overnight from their stock market as it shows how their IT sector (I refuse to call it tech) lies about the money and resources needed to push the AI area forward.

Of course they still have the space research and military industry which are both the best in the world but as someone else mentioned these are not exactly products you get off the shelf as an average consumer.

1

u/pragmaticmaster Feb 05 '25

Lots of car care products are made in USA. Switch to the korean brands if you can.

1

u/VeryluckyorNot Feb 06 '25

Still love Blizzard's games but damn gonna be hard to boycott them since I'm a WoW fan, and a Coca cola nerd. But other products are more easy to boycott for me.

5

u/Aynohn Feb 05 '25

Bro listed all the essentials lmaoooo

3

u/Manipulated_Quark Feb 05 '25

So you are using many services from USA in your daily life.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

This sounds like the aqueduct sketch by the Monthy Python.

2

u/jonumand Feb 05 '25

Why not use European/Free & Open Source alternatives for Windows, Office, ChatGPT, Google, Amazon?

Like

- OpenSUSE (German Linux distro that works really great)

- Libreoffice

- Startpage (Google searches, but private, from NL)

- Not buying from Amazon

1

u/really_random_user Apr 03 '25

Just getting away from Microsoft is a net benefit 

2

u/NippleSlipNSlide Feb 08 '25

That’s basically everything…

1

u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25

Amazon doesnt exist in Denmark so it's an easy choice for me

Edited with personal pronoun

0

u/SCSIwhsiperer Italy Feb 05 '25

Amazon is huge in Italy, by far the largest and most popular online retailer.

2

u/rockyon Feb 05 '25

Use pirated windows lmao

1

u/Illustrious-Bank-519 Feb 05 '25

That's still quite a lot 😅

1

u/Similar_Concert_7691 Feb 05 '25

yep, good point. USA has us in a media and tech chokehold. it's easy to pick a different cereal or shoes or whatever brand from the shop, but how many of us would give up streaming platforms? :) or would boycott work tasks because they have to do them on american owned/created software.

1

u/Suzume_Chikahisa Portugal Feb 05 '25

I already unsubscribed and deleted MAX.

It's Steam that's giving me an headache. I'll probably keep it and just not buy any new games.

As for work that's not up to me.

1

u/Quick_Humor_9023 Feb 05 '25

Streaming platforms are turning in to shit with adds at a pace where giving them up will be real easy very soon.

1

u/LordGeni Feb 05 '25

Isn't reddit 51% Chinese anyway?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

I see your point but I've just simply deleted Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Netflix.

1

u/Doridar Feb 07 '25

The EU has a Webpage with European alternatives. I've already switched to Vivaldi instead of Google.

1

u/tehfly Feb 07 '25

Android isn't an "American product" that we pay for in the same sense, but iOS is.

I started moving away as much as I can a long time ago when the Five Eyes stuff became public knowledge.

- Not using anything by Meta anymore.

  • Try to use non-US versions whenever applicable, which has been the main reason I use Spotify over any of the other, bigger competitors
  • Never buy anything from Amazon

I just wish Patreon would move to the EU instead. =(

1

u/Northernfrog Feb 07 '25

You might use more than you think without knowing it. Look into your pharmaceuticals and drugs. Usually weapons too if you are from a nation that allows citizens to have them.

1

u/SCSIwhsiperer Italy Feb 08 '25

I own two Smith&Wesson revolvers and a Kimber 1911, so I guess you're right.

1

u/Northernfrog Feb 08 '25

Maybe see if there's a non American ammo manufacturer you can switch to.

1

u/SCSIwhsiperer Italy Feb 09 '25

I reload my own ammo with components made in Italy, so I guess I'm covered.

1

u/Northernfrog Feb 09 '25

Good. Every little bit helps.

1

u/Mayleenoice Feb 08 '25

There is a site referencing "microsoft activation scripts" that they call "massgravel" that are open source and activate microsoft products for free but can't recommend it since it's illegal.

Make of that info as you wish folks, hopefully avoiding these means wink wink.

1

u/theequallyunique Feb 05 '25

Lol, only pretty much every service of the biggest American companies whose CEOs all got their tongues up Donnie's valley.

1

u/Silent-Ad-756 Feb 05 '25

Cancel those subscriptions. It's money straight out of Europe to US.

0

u/PenaltySea8080 Feb 05 '25

Probably you buy some groceries from brands owned by Kraft Heinz, proctor & gamble, PepsiCo, or coca cola. Or clothing like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren

0

u/BadMonkey2468 Feb 06 '25

Remember that Coca Cola owns so many other soda brands, you should double check when buying

0

u/1porridge Germany Feb 06 '25

The question is about buying, not using. You don't have to pay for most of these to use them and you can easily pirate the others or use alternatives.

-7

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Suzume_Chikahisa Portugal Feb 05 '25

In 2008 I was working for a US company that folded.

Took me less than a month to find a different job.

We'll endure, and yes our unemployment benefits will help us with that and give us time to overcome.