President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Monday that he plans to enforce a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States.
Trump claims that the U.S. has lost its movie industry, with particular emphasis on California and Governor Gavin Newsom, by stating that foreign-produced films have significantly impacted the state.
The president offered no additional context in his post, like when the tariffs could begin or which countries they would target.
This isn’t Trump’s first mention of this tariff. In May, he made similar assertions, arguing that tax incentives offered by other countries have lured filmmakers away from the U.S.
If Trump were to go through with implementing a 100% tariff on internationally produced movies, it would be a precedent-setting move, targeting services rather than physical products.
“Even if this is mere rhetoric, he must be taken seriously, which stirs anxiety in Hollywood,” stated Dominic Patten, executive director of Deadline.com. “A tariff on creative works differs dramatically from tariffs on tangible goods like cars or agricultural products; intellectual content can seamlessly span both international and local markets.”
Some worry this could alter Hollywood’s global business model.
“Is he targeting American companies that film abroad?” questioned Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “While we’d prefer all productions happen here, saddling the industry with additional challenges is ill-advised given its current condition.”
For decades, film and TV production has shot in locations that offer tax incentives. Earlier this year, California expanded the state’s film credit to $750 million.
Newsom responded to Trump’s announcement Monday morning on X, remarking that the president’s “actions will cause irreparable damage to the U.S. film industry.” Adding “Today’s move is 100%stupid.”
Some want a national film incentive, but would it work? Experts say this would be too hard to enforce.
“The fact of the matter is, many countries around the world do have national film incentive or TV incentive programs, but in a country like America, because of the nature of being a republic, we have so many states specifically for California, New York, Georgia and Louisiana take the bulk of the industry. It might be very hard to find a system that’s fair,” Patten said.
It remains to be seen if the president follows through on this threat and how exactly he plans to enforce the latest tariff.
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