US President Donald Trump has announced plans to hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world.
Trump stated that he was authorising the US Department of Commerce and Trade Representative to start the process to impose the levy because America’s movie industry was dying “a very fast death”.
He criticised the “concerted effort” of other countries that offer incentives to attract filmmakers and studios, which he described as a “national security threat”.
“It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “We want movies made in America, again.”
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “We’re on it,” in response to the new announcement.
However, the specifics of the relocation are unknown. Trump’s announcement did not indicate whether the tariff would apply to American production businesses producing films abroad.
Several recent significant films made by US studios, including Deadpool and Wolverine, Wicked, and Gladiator II, were filmed outside of the United States.
It was also unclear if the levies would apply to films screened in theatres or on streaming sites such as Netflix, or how they would be computed.
The UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport; industry organisation the British Film Institute; and the Motion Picture Association, which represents the five major US film studios, did not immediately react to BBC enquiries.
The governments of Australia and New Zealand have come out in support of their respective film industries.
“Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry,” Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke said.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stated at a news conference that his government was awaiting further details of the proposed tariffs.
“But we’ll be obviously a great advocate, great champion of that sector and that industry,” he added.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has levied tariffs on countries around the world.
He claims tariffs would benefit US businesses and defend jobs, but the global economy has been thrown into disarray as a result, and prices on goods around the world are certain to rise.
Trump nominated three film actors – Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone – to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting commercial prospects in Hollywood, which he described as a “great but very troubled place” before his inauguration.
“They will serve as special envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to foreign countries back, bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump wrote at the time.
