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

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on May 4 announced a 100 per cent tariff on movies produced outside the country, saying the US movie industry was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries were offering to draw film-makers.

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

He said he was authorising the relevant US government agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, to immediately begin the process of imposing a 100 per cent 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 social media platform X, said: “We’re on it.”

Neither Mr Lutnick nor Mr Trump provided any details on how the tariff would be implemented.

It was unclear if the tariff would apply to movies on streaming services as well as those shown in theatres, or if it would be calculated based on production costs or box office revenue.

Hollywood executives were trying to sort out details on the night of May 4. The Motion Picture Association, which represents the major studios, had no immediate comment.

In January, Mr Trump

appointed Hollywood veterans

Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson as “special envoys” tasked with bringing Hollywood back “bigger, better and stronger than ever before”.

Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for years, heading to places 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 US$248 billion (S$320 billion) that 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.

On May 5, leaders in Australia and New Zealand responded to Mr Trump’s tariff announcement by saying they would support 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.

‘Lot more to lose than to gain’

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

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

The January

wildfires that destroyed sections of Los Angeles

accelerated concerns that producers may look elsewhere, 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 neighbourhoods.

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 California Governor Gavin Newsom to boost the state’s tax incentives to better compete with other locations.

Mr Trump’s proposed movie tariff follows a series of trade conflicts initiated by his administration that 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 Mr Trump’s foreign movie tariff would be devastating.

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