President Trump Slapped 100% Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Trade representative and the Department of Commerce on Sunday to “begin the process” of imposing a 100% tariff on “any and all” movies coming into the country from foreign lands.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday afternoon.
“Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated,” he said.
The president attributed the situation to a “concerted effort” by other nations, and said it is therefore a “national security risk.”
“We want movies made in America again,” Trump declared.
Asked about the post when he returned to the White House last night aboard Marine One, the president reiterated his position, saying, “it’s a very popular thing.”
“Other nations have been stealing the movies, the movie-making capabilities, from the United States, and so I said to a couple of people, ‘What do you think?’” Trump said.
“I’ve done some very strong research over the last week, and I can tell you, Hollywood is being destroyed,” he said.
“Now, you have a grossly incompetent governor that allowed this to happen,” he continued, taking a slap at California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “So I’m not just blaming other nations. But a lot of nations have stolen our movie industry by giving them big money and supporting productions.
“So that’s a threat to our country in a sense, and these tariffs are a very popular thing. Movie makers love it,” the president said.
On Monday afternoon he added: “I’m not looking to hurt the industry; I want to help the industry.”
“We’re going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they’re happy with it, because we’re all about jobs,” he said.
According to Variety and other industry trade publications, studio executives were taken by surprise by the announcement, many of them scheduling emergency calls to suss out Trump’s position and when and if they might counter it.
As it is, Trump offered no details on how or when the proposed tariffs will be implemented and whether they would be applied to films that are already completed or those already in production.
Also unclear is how the tariffs might be applied to sequels or those films that cry out for an exotic location.
Film production is said to be down about 40% in the U.S. in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and significant strikes by the actors and screenwriters unions.
According to the Motion Picture Association, the trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, the U.S. film and television industry supports more than 2.3 million jobs, pays out $229 billion in total wages, and comprises more than 122,000 businesses in cities and small towns across the country.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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