Trade talks between UK and US to include film tariffs as US president threatens to slap 100% tariffs on foreign films
by Shannon Cook · LBCBy Shannon Cook
Film tariffs are expected to form part of UK-US trade talks after Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on all foreign films imported to the United States.
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In response to Trump's film tariffs, the UK government said trade talks with Washington were in the process and it was taking a "calm and steady approach" to discussions in an attempt to "ease pressure on UK businesses".
It comes as a trade union warned Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 100% tariff on movies made outside the US “could deal a knock-out blow” to the UK film sector.
Philippa Childs, head of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu), said the UK industry is “only just recovering” from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, when many productions were delayed or cancelled.
“The UK is a world leader in film and TV production, employing thousands of talented workers, and this is a key growth sector in the Government’s industrial strategy,” she said.
“These tariffs, coming after Covid and the recent slowdown, could deal a knock-out blow to an industry that is only just recovering and will be really worrying news for tens of thousands of skilled freelancers who make films in the UK.
“The Government must move swiftly to defend this vital sector, and support the freelancers who power it, as a matter of essential national economic interest.”
Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage said members warned “against complacency on our status as the Hollywood of Europe” in their report on British film and high-end TV, published last month.
“President Trump’s announcement has made that warning all too real,” she added.
“Making it more difficult to make films in the UK is not in the interests of American businesses. Their investment in facilities and talent in the UK, based on US-owned IP (intellectual property), is showing fantastic returns on both sides of the Atlantic. Ministers must urgently prioritise this as part of the trade negotiations currently under way.
“At the same time, the Government’s forthcoming Creative Industries Sector Plan needs to meet the challenge we set down of incentivising inward investment while also growing our domestic sector so British film and high-end TV can thrive.”
The US President claims he is defending the American film industry, which he described as “dying a very fast death”.
He wants "movies made in America again" in a post made to his platform Truth Social on Sunday night.
"Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A, are being devastated," he claimed.
The full post reads: "The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death.
"Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.
"This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.
"It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!
"Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.
"WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!"
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It was not immediately clear how any such tariff on international productions could be implemented. It is common for both large and smaller films to include production in both the US and other countries.
Big-budget movies like the upcoming Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, for instance, are shot around the world, with the majority of their filming completed in the UK.
Similarly, movies including Greta Gerwig's box office hit Barbie and Parasite director Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 were mostly shot in the UK.
Incentive programmes for years have influenced where movies are shot, increasingly driving film production out of California and to other states and countries with favourable tax incentives, like Canada and the United Kingdom.
Yet tariffs are designed to lead consumers toward American products, and American-produced movies overwhelmingly dominate the domestic marketplace.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said on Monday: "Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump's directive to safeguard our country's national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again."