U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country and imported into the U.S., saying the American movie industry was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries were offering to lure filmmakers, IPN reports.
“Hollywood and many other areas of the U.S. are devastated. It is a concerted effort by other nations and a threat to national security, respectively. We want movies made in America, again!”, said Donald Trump.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick confirmed Trump’s decision in a post on his X account: “We’re on it.” No details were given on how the tariff will be implemented and whether the measure will include films from streaming platforms or only productions broadcast in cinemas.
Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for years, heading to locations with tax incentives that make filming cheaper.
All major media companies, including Walt Disney, Netflix, and Universal Pictures, film overseas in countries such as Canada and Britain.
Leaders in Australia and New Zealand responded to Trump’s tariff announcement by saying they would advocate for their local industries. Some Marvel superhero movies have been filmed in Australia, while New Zealand was the backdrop for “The Lord of the Rings” films.
In 2023, about half of the spending by U.S. producers on movie and TV projects with budgets of more than $40 million went outside the U.S., according to research firm ProdPro. Film and television production has fallen by nearly 40% over the last decade in Hollywood’s home city of Los Angeles, according to FilmLA, a non-profit that tracks the region’s production.
At the beginning of April, Donald Trump announced an increase in customs duties for most imports, which were later suspended for 90 days for more than 75 countries, including the Republic of Moldova.
China recently introduced additional tariffs of at most 125% on products imported from the U.S., following Washington’s decision to increase customs duties on Chinese products to 145%.
