President Trump is calling for a 100 percent tariff on foreign films, saying “a concerted effort” by other countries to lure filmmakers abroad constitutes a threat to national security.
“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,” Trump said in a Sunday post on Truth Social.
“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!” he added.
It is unclear how any such tariff would be implemented on intellectual property, but the move is all but certain to face legal challenges from the industry, including on free speech grounds.
While a spokesperson for the Motion Picture Association declined to comment, a 2023 report from the trade group said the film industry “generated a positive balance of trade in every major market in the world.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not immediately respond to ITK’s request for comment.
Trump, whose use of punitive tariffs has shaken global markets and led to the U.S. experiencing its first quarter of negative economic growth in years, has long had a rocky relationship with the entertainment industry, with many prominent Hollywood stars among his fiercest critics.
Before he was sworn in in January, the president appointed actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone to be his “special ambassadors” to the industry.
“These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” he said at the time.
—Judy Kurtz contributed to this post, which was last updated at 10:08 p.m. EDT
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