An anti-boycott, counter-boycott, or buycott is the excess buying of a particular

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

or product in an attempt to counter a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

of the same brand or product. Anti-boycott measures could also be in the form of laws and

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

s adopted by a state to prohibit the act of boycott among its citizens.

Consumer activism

Anti-boycotts in the United States have been employed by organizations that criticize

consumer activism A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

, especially during periods when such movement—for a portion of the American public—was considered un-American. Once boycott was adopted by the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

as one of its tactics, opponents of that movement began organizing anti-boycott leagues in response. The usual reason for an anti-boycott is to discourage a company or entity from backing down on the decision that initially caused the boycott. Some examples of anti-boycotts include: *The 2006 " Buy Danish" campaign, set up to counter the boycott of Danish goods by the Middle East *The anti-boycotts by supporters of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to the oppose the

BDS movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's o ...

in 2009. *

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...

was boycotted in 2009 when the CEO opposed U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's health care reform policies. Opponents of health care reform staged nationwide "buycotts" in response. * Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day counter-boycott of

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...

over controversy regarding LGBT people in 2012. *

Goya Foods Goya Foods, Inc., is a private company, private American multinational corporation, multinational producer and distributor of foods and beverages sold in the United States and many Spanish-speaking countries. The company operates facilities in the ...

was "buycotted" in 2020 after co-owner and CEO

Robert Unanue The Unanue family of New York City is a wealthy American family of Spanish heritage and Basque descent. They were the 170th richest family in the United States in 2014 according to ''Forbes'', having a net worth of US$1.1 billion. The patriarch, ...

publicly lauded U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. *Counter-protests of the Economic Blackout.

Legal enforcement

Some anti-boycott measures are enforced by law. For example, anti-boycott provisions in the

Export Administration Act of 1979 The Export Administration Act (EAA) of 1979 (P.L. 96-72) authorized to the President to control U.S. exports for national security, foreign policy, and short supply purposes. The EAA, like its predecessors, contained a sunset provision, and, begi ...

and Ribicoff Amendment to the

Tax Reform Act of 1976 The Tax Reform Act of 1976 was passed by the United States Congress in September 1976, and signed into law by President Gerald Ford on October 4, 1976, becoming . The act increased the percentage standard deduction to 16% ($2,800 max) and minimum ...

in the United States forbid US companies and their subsidiaries from complying with or supporting a foreign country's boycott of another country unless the US also approves of the boycott. Violations can cause the authorities to take firm measures. The

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

's boycott of

has been the primary focus of these laws, though it applies to any "unsanctioned" foreign boycott. Beginning in 1989, the United States and several European organizations became active in internationalizing this anti-boycott effort, which led to the intensification of pressure on the European Community as well as Asian states to participate or act against the application of secondary boycotts in their countries. Specific "unsanctioned" actions that are prohibited under the U.S. anti-boycott regulations include the refusal to do business with or in a boycotted country; discrimination against U.S. persons in employment on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin; provision of information about business relationships with a boycotted country due to its relationship with a boycotted country; and, the use of

letters of credit A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exp ...

that contain boycott-related terms, among others. U.S. persons, a term that covers all individuals, corporations, and

unincorporated associations A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to ac ...

resident in the United States, including the permanent domestic affiliates of foreign concerns, who receive requests to participate in an unsanctioned boycott are required to report the incident to the Office of Antiboycott Compliance (OAC). In 2018, the

United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

began investigating the utility of applying anti-boycott laws to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

to protect US interests in Cross-Strait relations.

Consumer activism

Legal enforcement

References

Further reading