U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would impose a 100% tariff on all foreign-made movies, an unprecedent
ed move that threatens to upend Hollywood’s global business model.
The step signals Trump’s willingness to extend protectionist trade policies into cultural industries, raising uncertainty for studio
s that depend heavily on international box-office revenue and cross-border co-productions.
Trump announced the measure in a post on his Truth Social pl
atform, claiming U.S. movie-making is losing ground to international competition.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United S
tates of America, by other Countries, just like stealing candy from a baby,” he wrote.
However, it was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump
would use to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.
Related: Lights, Camera, Action: New Risks Emerge as Hollywood Goes Virtual, Hunts Tax Credits
White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request
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for comment on how the tariffs would be implemented. Warner
Bros Discovery, Comcast, Paramount Skydance and Netflix also did not immediately respond to requests.
Shares of Netflix were down 1.5% in early trading.
The president had first floated the idea of a movie tariff in May but offered very little details, leaving entertainment exec
utives unsure whether it would apply to specific countries or all imports.
Studio executives told Reuters earlier this year that they were “flummoxed” by how a movie tariff might be enforced,
given that modern films often use production, financi
ng, post-production and visual effects spread across multiple countries.
The move has drawn skepticism from legal and trade analysts. Som
e argue films are a form of intellectual property
and part of the global trade in services, an area where the U.S. ofte
n runs a surplus, raising questions about the legal basis for tariffs.
Co-productions with foreign studios have also become more common, adding to doubts about how such films would be classified.