WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country, saying the U.S. movie industry was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries were offering to draw American filmmakers.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said he was authorizing the relevant U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Commerce to immediately begin the process of imposing a 100% tariff on all films produced abroad that are then sent into the United States.
Trump added: “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posting on X said: “We’re on it.”
Neither Lutnick nor Trump provided any details on how the tariffs would be implemented. Trump appointed three Hollywood veterans Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson, in January, to bring Hollywood back “bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for years, heading to locations with tax incentives that make filming cheaper. Crew members were hoping for a rebound in Los Angeles after strikes by writers and actors in 2023, but statistics show the comeback has been slow.
The wildfires that destroyed sections of Los Angeles in January accelerated concerns that producers may look elsewhere, and that camera operators, costume designers, sound technicians and other behind-the-scenes workers may move out of town rather than try to rebuild in their neighborhoods.
Film and television production in Los Angeles has fallen by nearly 40% over the last decade, according to FilmLA, a non-profit that tracks the region’s production.
Governments around the world have offered more generous tax credits and cash rebates to lure productions, and capture a greater share of the $248 billion that Ampere Analysis predicts will be spent globally in 2025 to produce content.
China restricts Hollywood imports in response to US tariffs
The post by Trump comes after he has triggered a trade war with China, and imposed global tariffs which have roiled markets and led to fears of a U.S. recession.
Former senior Commerce official William Reinsch, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said retaliation against Trump’s foreign movie tariffs would be devastating.
“The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to make a national security or national emergency case for movies.
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