President Trump is seeking to impose a 100% tax on movies made outdoors the U.S. — claiming it’s a “national security threat” that Hollywood is capturing motion pictures in different nations.
“The movie industry in America is dying a very fast death,” Trump wrote on his social media web site. “Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a national security threat.”
“We want movies made in America, again,” Trump added within the Sunday night time put up.
It wasn’t instantly clear how any such tariff on worldwide productions shot within the U.S. and in different nations could possibly be applied.
Not like different shopper merchandise, moviegoers usually pay a set worth for admission, no matter the price of manufacturing or taxes imposed on the creator of the movie.
The multiplex is a curious goal for a commerce battle as a result of American-made motion pictures nonetheless dominate the worldwide market, producing $22.6 billion in exports and $15.3 billion in commerce surplus in 2023.
That’s successfully the alternative of the situation with many different shopper items, the place Trump has angrily derided China and different commerce companions for engineering enormous commerce deficits with the U.S.
The Movement Image Affiliation, which represents main U.S. movie studios and streaming providers, hasn’t responded to the Trump tariff menace.
American movie and tv manufacturing has been hampered lately, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, a Hollywood writers strike and the latest devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. General manufacturing within the U.S. was down final yr by 26%, in contrast with 2021, based on information from ProdPro.
Overseas nations have for years sought to lure film shoots with tax incentives. New Zealand has emerged as a key location for blockbuster movies just like the “Lord of the Rings” and “Minecraft,” together with Canada and the UK. American states and cities have completed the identical factor.
Trump has stated all of the taxes fall below the president’s authority to guard “national security,” which has historically solely been used to affect navy or geopolitical points, not commerce fights.
