Donald Trump orders 100% tariff to all foreign films entering the US.

The tariff war hits the film industry.

The president of the United States, Donald Trumpannounced on Sunday, May 4, which He has instructed the Commerce Department to impose a 100% tariff on films produced outside the country and imported to the United Statesarguing that the American industry was dying “very quickly”, due to the incentives that other countries offer to filmmakers to make their productions abroad.

In a publication made by Trump in Truth Social, he said:

“The American film industry is dying quickly. Other countries offer all kinds of incentives to move our filmmakers and studies in the United States away.

“Therefore, I authorize the Department of Commerce and the US commercial representative to immediately initiate the process of establishing a 100 % tariff to all films that enter our country produced abroad.

“We want movies made in the United States, again!”

Trump added:

“Hollywood and many other areas of the United States are being devastated this is a joint effort of other nations and, therefore, a threat to national security. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, declared in X: “We are in it.”

They did not make themselves known details of how tariffs will be implementednor was it clear if these would apply to all films, including those exhibited in cinema and those that are streaming platform films, or what paper would the production costs or box office collection have.

Movies are intellectual property, not goodsso they represent a type of service that is currently not subject to tariffs. However, the United States Commercial Representative (USTR) points out that some services may be subject to certain non -tariff commercial barriers, such as tax regulations and incentives. These could harm American film production.

Important to keep in mind that the production of films and television has been gaining strength away from Hollywood when heading to places with tax incentives that make filming cheaper.

Many foreign cities have offered important tax exemptions to film and television studies to shoot movies and series outside Hollywood. This has caused a large number of productions to transfer their operations to places such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Dublin.

In response, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has proposed a huge tax credit for production to return to Hollywood.

Pandemia has played a very important role in change in industry.

While it is true that Hollywood is far from being devastatedfilm tickets have dropped in the United States because the number of large films on the billboard has collapsed from the pandemic, and consumers have changed their consumption habits to streaming platforms to watch home cinema. This without saying that the cost of tickets has increased.

Regarding box office collection: the United States reached a maximum of just under $ 12,000 million in 2018, to collapse to just over $ 2,000 million in 2020, compared to the mass closure of cinemas in the country – and the entire world. Theaters have been recovered since then, although national box office collection has not exceeded $ 9,000 million. It is also important to note that the amount of film releases is approximately half of what it was in 2019.

• Streaming platforms belong largely to Hollywood's great studies, and have taken years to generate profits.

Trump tariffs

Trump has imposed a universal tariff of 10% to most of the goods that enter the United States and has implemented, and then postponed, “reciprocal” tariffs even more substantial to dozens of other nations. He has also imposed 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum, cars, auto parts and some products in Canada and Mexico. And has imposed a massive tariff of 145% to imports from China.

But None of these tariffs affects services. The tariffs on film production, if they are approved, could be the first.

This Monday there was a response from some world leaders, such as Australia and New Zealand, who They responded to Trump's tariff announcement stating that their local industries would defend (Via Reuters). New Zealand served as the stage of the acclaimed saga of The Lord of the Ringswhile Australia is one of the favorite places to roll, of multiple filmmakers, as in the case of the franchise Matrixin addition to being permanent base of Marvel Studios. Has also served as a location of projects such as The Fall Guy y Godzilla vs Kong.

On the other hand, the British media and entertainment union Bectu urged the government to act quickly to protect the vital film industry of the country, saying through its director, Philippa Childs:

“These tariffs, after the COVID-19 and the recent slowdown, could be a hard blow to an industry that is barely recovering.”

He added that tens of thousands of jobs from independent professionals who make films in the United Kingdom would also endanger.

Last January, Trump appointed Hollywood veteran actors, Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson “Special Ambassadors” in Hollywood, to restore the “golden age” of the industry.