Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on films made outside the country, saying the U.S. film industry has dying “very fast death” as other countries motivated incentives to attract American film producers.
Trump said he is authorizing U.S. government agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, to immediately begin the process of imposing 100% tariffs on all films made abroad and then sending them to the United States.
Trump added: “We want movies made in the United States!”
“We're on top,” Business Secretary Howard Lutnick said on X.
Neither Lutnick nor Trump provided any details on how the tariffs were implemented.
Trump appointed three Hollywood veterans Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson in January to make Hollywood “big, better, better than ever.”
Movie and TV production have been away from Hollywood for years, heading to tax-promoted locations that make shooting cheaper. The crew hopes to rebound in Los Angeles after the writer and actor strike in 2023, but statistics show a slow comeback.
Wildfires that destroyed the Los Angeles area in January accelerated issues that producers might look elsewhere, while camera operators, clothing designers, sound technicians and other behind-the-scenes workers might move out of town rather than trying to rebuild in the community.
Film and TV production in Los Angeles has dropped nearly 40% over the past decade, according to nonprofits tracking production in the region.
Governments around the world have offered more generous tax credits and cash discounts to attract production and have a larger share of the $248 billion forecast by Ampere analysis.
Trump's post comes after he sparked a trade war with China and imposed global tariffs that sparked markets and led to fears of a U.S. recession.
Retaliation against Trump’s foreign film tariffs would be devastating, said William Reinsch, a former senior business official at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Revenge will kill our industry. We are going to lose more,” he said.
