President Donald Trump has announced a 100 percent tariff on all films produced outside of the United States.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote in a post shared to his Truth Social platform on Sunday. “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!” he continued. “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!”
Trump warned that he planned to impose steep tariffs on a variety of goods and products in his inaugural address, declaring in the Jan. 20 speech, “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”
In the months since, the president has announced harsh tariffs on everything from an Antarctic island inhabited only by penguins to European wine, beer, and liquor, which he threatened a 200 percent tariff against in March.
The film industry had so far been spared, but the former host of The Apprentice has taken several actions related to the entertainment industry since his election in November.
Karwai Tang/WireImage; David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty; Amy Sussman/WireImage
Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight
Shortly before his inauguration in January, Trump announced that he would appoint Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight as Special Ambassadors to “a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.”
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK — BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!,” he wrote on Truth Social.
In April, Trump’s Justice Department, under the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi, restored Gibson’s gun rights after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge stemming from a domestic violence incident in 2011. That same month, Trump bragged about a White House visit from actor Vince Vaughn via a post from several official White House social media accounts that pictured Trump and the Wedding Crashers star together with the caption, “White House Crashers.”
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