Trump orders 100% tariff on foreign-made movies to save ‘dying’ Hollywood

Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for years, heading to locations with tax incentives that make filming cheaper.

US President Donald Trump has announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country, saying the American movie industry is dying a "very fast death" due to the incentives other countries are offering to lure filmmakers.

"This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a national security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said he was authorising the relevant government agencies, such as the department of commerce, to immediately begin the process of imposing a 100% tariff on all films produced abroad that are then sent into the US.

He added: "We want movies made in America again."

Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick posting on X said: "We're on it."

Lutnick and Trump did not provide details on how the tariffs would be implemented.

It was unclear if the tariffs would apply to movies on streaming services and those shown in theatres, or if they would be calculated based on production costs or box office revenue. Hollywood executives were trying to sort out details on Sunday night. The Motion Picture Association, which represents the major studios, had no immediate comment.

In January, Trump appointed Hollywood veterans Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson to bring Hollywood back "bigger, better and stronger than ever before".

Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for years, heading to locations with tax incentives that make filming cheaper.

Governments around the world have increased credits and cash rebates to attract productions and capture a greater share of the $248bn (R4.5-trillion) Ampere Analysis predicts will be spent globally in 2025 to produce content.

All major media companies, including Walt Disney, Netflix and Universal Pictures, film overseas in countries such as Canada and Britain.

In 2023, about half the spending on movie and TV projects with budgets of more than $40m (R735m) went outside the US, according to research firm ProdPro.

Film and television production has fallen by nearly 40% over the past decade in Hollywood's home city of Los Angeles, according to FilmLA, a non-profit that tracks the region's production.

The January wildfires accelerated concerns that producers may look outside Los Angeles, and that camera operators, costume designers, sound technicians and other behind-the-scenes workers may move out of town rather than try to rebuild in their neighborhoods.

A ProdPro survey of executives found California was the sixth most preferred place to film in the next two years, behind Toronto, Britain, Vancouver, central Europe and Australia.

Hollywood producers and labour unions have been urging governor Gavin Newsom to boost the state's tax incentives to better compete with other locations.

Trump's proposed movie tariff comes after a series of trade conflicts initiated by his administration, which have roiled markets and led to fears of a US recession.

Former senior commerce official William Reinsch, a senior fellow with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said retaliation against Trump's film tariffs would be devastating.

"The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain," he said, adding it would be difficult to make a national security or national emergency case for movies.

Reuters