Washington: US President Donald Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on all foreign-produced films imported into the United States, arguing that the decline of domestic movie production poses a national security threat.
In a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump accused foreign governments of deliberately undermining the US film industry by offering generous incentives to lure American productions abroad.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” Trump wrote. “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” He said the Department of Commerce and other relevant agencies had been directed to immediately begin the process of enforcing the new tariff.
The announcement sent shockwaves through Hollywood, where many major studios including Disney, Netflix, and Universal Pictures routinely film in countries like Canada, Britain, and Australia to capitalize on tax rebates and lower production costs.
Industry executives said they were urgently seeking clarification on whether the tariff would apply to films on streaming platforms, theatrical releases, or both, and how the tariff would be calculated based on production costs, licensing, or box office returns.
Governments in Australia and New Zealand, both popular locations for major productions like Thor: Ragnarok and The Lord of the Rings, issued statements defending their local industries. They said they would seek to protect domestic film jobs and oppose any measures that threaten international cooperation in media and culture.
The proposed tariff comes at a time when US film and television production is already under strain. Meanwhile, a 2023 study found that nearly half of the US spending on film and TV projects with budgets over $40 million occurred outside the United States. California ranked just sixth among preferred global filming locations, trailing Toronto, the UK, Vancouver, Central Europe, and Australia.
Trade experts and former government officials cautioned that retaliatory measures from other countries could do lasting damage to America’s own entertainment sector, which remains one of the nation’s top soft-power exports.
Trump’s announcement also follows his earlier move in January to appoint Hollywood veterans Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone, and Mel Gibson to a committee charged with bringing US film production back “bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
