LOS ANGELES (KABC) — President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday he will be imposing a 100% tariff “on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.”
In his post, the president said the movie making business has been “stolen” from the U.S., specifically calling out California and Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying the state has been hit hard by films made outside the U.S.
The president offered no additional context in his post, like when the tariffs could begin or which countries they would target.
This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to impose this tariff. Back in May, the president made the same threat, arguing that other countries offer tax incentives that have drawn filmmakers abroad.
Now, if Trump follows through and imposes a 100% tariff on all movies made outside the U.S., it would mark the first time he’s essentially imposed a tariff on a service, rather than a good.
“This might be all smoke, but nonetheless, they do have to take him seriously and that causes a lot of fear in tinsel town,” said Dominic Patten, executive director of Deadline.com. “A tariff on intellectual content, on creative content, is not like tariffs on automobiles. It’s not like tariffs on steel, soybeans. It’s not something you can point to and say this is what it is. It’s an intellectual property and that can be as global as it can be local.”
Some worry this could alter Hollywood’s global business model.
“Is he talking about U.S. companies that film overseas? Obviously we would like all filming to take place here, but given the state of the film industry, the last thing we need to do is put another burden on them,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
For decades, film and TV production has shot in locations that offer tax incentives. Earlier this year, California expanded the state’s film credit to $750 million.
Newsom responded to Trump’s announcement Monday morning on X, remarking that the president’s “actions will cause irreparable damage to the U.S. film industry.” Adding “Today’s move is 100%stupid.”
Some want a national film incentive, but would it work? Experts say this would be too hard to enforce.
“The fact of the matter is, many countries around the world do have national film incentive or TV incentive programs, but in a country like America, because of the nature of being a republic, we have so many states specifically for California, New York, Georgia and Louisiana take the bulk of the industry. It might be very hard to find a system that’s fair,” Patten said.
It remains to be seen if the president follows through on this threat and how exactly he plans to enforce the latest tariff.
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