Concerns are growing that French and German exports to the US will be hit by the transatlantic diplomatic stand-off over Iraq, but the evidence is as yet sparse and often anecdotal.
Businessmen are anxiously scanning their sales charts to see if US consumers vote with their feet and refuse to buy a sleek Mercedes or a bottle of good vintage Chateauneuf du Pape.
As the politicians in Berlin and Paris defy Washington and insist there is no case for immediate war against Iraq, sympathisers with the George W. Bush view of the crisis might opt instead for a Chevrolet or a Californian wine.
German exporters warned this week that Berlin's diplomatic rift with the US over Iraq could mean a 10 per cent drop in German exports to the US and shave 0.33 percentage points off the country's economic growth this year.
Such an impact would be considerable for a country which barely escaped recession in 2002 and even without tensions over Iraq expected a mere one per cent growth rate this year.
Anton Boerner, head of the BGA wholesale and foreign trade association who gave the warning, said he did not expect a full-fledged boycott.
"But there are signs within both the Democrat and Republic parties that they are thinking about 'punishing' German and French products," he said in an interview.
"There won't be a call for a boycott but sales people are nervous and nervousness is bad for business. Business is better among friends," Boerner said.
German companies say they have seen no dramatic impact yet.
"Our business in the US continues to develop very positively," said Eckard Wannieck, spokesman for carmaker BMW AG.
"This could be something to do with the fact we have a factory there. But on the consumer side, for our customers, this does not play a role."
A DaimlerChrysler spokesman said: "There are no indications that this is having any effect on business."
But Ulf Moritzen, fund manager at Nordinvest in Hamburg, said trade barriers of some description could be on the cards.
"We are now getting to a point where the war scenario is not about weapons only but also trade. I think the Americans are willing to put trade barriers on a lot of European products," said Moritzen.
French big business shows sang froid for the moment. Directors at French drinks group Pernod Ricard, the world's third biggest spirits company, said at a press briefing on their 2002 sales on Wednesday that they did not think their products were in danger of a US consumer boycott.
However, they added their confidence stems from the fact that many of their brands are "indigenous", like Seagram's Gin produced in Indiana, or are not associated with France, like its Scotch whiskies and Polish vodkas.
Camembert is, however, unmistakably French, and that is a problem for French internet cheese seller Marc Refabert.
His inbox has filled up with e-mails from disgruntled US customers this week saying his cheese may be fine, but the diplomacy of his president, Jacques Chirac, smells.
"Because of the current position your government is taking on not supporting the US at this time regarding Iraq, we are not going to support France in any way. ... We are sorry," read one e-mail to the co-founder of www.fromages.com.
Refabert is relaxed, however. "It's just temporary. They'll come back in two or three months," he said.
At least one US restaurateur has stopped selling French wine and Champagne. Italian New Yorker Enzo Lentini said on Thursday that he was angered by newspaper reports that France would not take part in a Nato plan to protect Turkey in the event of a war in Iraq.
"The Turkish people had asked for help in case of war, they are part of the alliance, but the French refused and I think that is really rude," said Lentini, 37, general manager of Lentini Restaurant.
Lentini, who was born in Italy but has lived in New York for 27 years, said he had also removed German wines from sale in the restaurant.
Other traditional French products could soon be in the firing line.
The Washington Post on Wednesday quoted House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert as saying new health standards should be considered for the 65 million gallons of French mineral water exported to the US annually.
Sellers of bonds and sellers of camembert or Evian usually have little in common.
But there have been reports that some US investors refused last week to buy a $350 million high-yield bond issued by French electrical switch maker Legrand.
A banker involved in debt syndication agreed that in the febrile atmosphere, there had been some impact, and a last-minute increase in the yield offered by Legrand may have partly reflected some US investors' reluctance to take part.
"There are some who look at what's taking place in, for example, the UN and ask themselves why they should support a French company at this time," he said.
"But $350 million (of bonds) was priced and it was only a marginal effect."