Donald Trump Vows 100% Tariff on All Movies Made Outside the US: ‘A National Security Threat’
"The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death," the president writes on Truth Social The post Donald Trump Vows 100% Tariff on All Movies Made Outside the US: ‘A National Security Threat’ appeared first on TheWrap.
Donald Trump on Sunday said he is imposing a 100% tariff on “any and all” films made outside the United States.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” the president wrote on Truth Social Sunday.
“Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
To put it lightly, Hollywood has many questions.
It is unclear how Trump plans to impose these tariffs. Marvel’s “Avengers: Doomsday” just started production in the UK, is Disney on the hook for that? What about James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels, which are shot in New Zealand? And what of Netflix’s “Wuthering Heights” and Universal’s “Wicked: For Good,” both of which were shot in the UK?
And how soon will these tariffs be imposed? Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” hits theaters in just a few weeks, and the globe-trotting spy actioner shot pretty much everywhere but the United States.
Will the tariffs apply to animated films? That’d be bad news for Universal’s box office hit-maker Illumination, which is based in France.
It’s also unclear if Trump’s planned tariffs include international films that are then distributed in the United States, a question that many would no doubt like to have answered before the Cannes Film Festival gets underway in less than 10 days — a host of distributors are primed to acquire foreign-made films at Cannes for domestic release.
It’s also unclear why Trump singled out movies and not TV production, as television shows are also increasingly shot outside Los Angeles.
Trump answered reporters’ questions about his announcement later on Sunday, but as is often the case, his answers led to more questions.
“What they’ve done is other nations have been stealing the movies, the moviemaking capabilities from the United States. And I said to a couple of people, ‘What do you think?’ I’ve done some very strong research over the last week, and we’re making very few movies now. Hollywood is being destroyed,” Trump said outside the White House.
The president didn’t specify who he questioned about the situation, but in January, Trump announced Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as Special Ambassadors to Hollywood. Reports swirled in recent weeks that Voight has been quietly meeting with people in Hollywood about the production exodus from L.A.
“Other nations, a lot of them, have stolen our movie industry and if they’re not willing to make a movie inside the United States, then we should have a tariff on movies that come in,” Trump continued when talking to reporters on Sunday. “Not only that, governments are actually giving big money, I mean they’re supporting them financially. So that’s sort of a threat to our country, in a sense.”
The tariff announcement comes as California is certainly battling an exodus of production, not only overseas — especially the U.K. — but also to Atlanta and New York. California lawmakers are currently mulling bills that would make the state more desirable for production, including increasing the tax incentive to be more competitive with those offered elsewhere.
But a tariff on any films made outside the U.S. would seem to impact every major studio at a time when the entire industry — especially exhibitors — has singled out 2025 as a make-or-break box office year.
Are we headed towards a scenario where tickets to see “Avatar: Fire and Ash” are upcharged just because the New Zealand-shot film is now that much more expensive to release in the United States?
The post Donald Trump Vows 100% Tariff on All Movies Made Outside the US: ‘A National Security Threat’ appeared first on TheWrap.
