Trump Is Trying to Put a Tariff on Movies From Outside US

President Donald Trump plans to impose a 100% tariff on movies made outside the US.

In a Sunday post on Truth Social, the president said other countries are offering US filmmakers and studios incentives to draw them out of the country. He called this a “national security threat” and proposed his tariffs as a way to stop Hollywood from “dying a very fast death.”

“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,” he wrote in the post.

He added, “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

The US’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, reposted Trump’s comments on X on Sunday with the caption: “We’re on it.”

Trump did not specify how the tariff would be implemented or when it would go into effect. White House representatives did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Trump’s comments come as Hollywood grappled with numerous challenges from strikes to wildfires.

According to Film LA data, the number of film productions in Greater Los Angeles in the first quarter of the year dropped 22% compared to last year.

The report said the decline was partly due to the devastating wildfires that ravaged LA in January, which affected about 550 unique filming locations in the city.

The domestic film industry was also affected by monthslong strikes in 2023, during which writers and actors demanded increases in wages and benefits and protested the use of AI in filmmaking.

A July report by tracking company ProdPro said the number of productions being shot in the US was down 37% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2022.

In October, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced a proposal to increase California’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program from $330 million to $750 million yearly.

This proposal aims to incentivize production houses to keep their work in California instead of moving elsewhere.

Besides the movie industry, Trump has imposed a baseline 10% tariff on imports from all countries except China. His tariff rate for China now stands at 145%.