The White House said Monday that no final decision has been made on imposing tariffs on foreign films a day after Donald Trump declared 100% tariffs on all films produced outside the United States.
“While there hasn’t been a final decision on foreign film tariffs, the administration is exploring all the options to implement President Trump’s direction to protect our country’s national and economic security while making Hollywood great again.”
The US President announced the tariffs on his true social platform, claiming that the Department of Commerce and US trade representatives had allowed them to immediately begin the process of establishing a 100% tariff on all films that come to our country, produced on foreign lands.
In his Sunday post, Trump provided little detail on how such trade punishments would work, but warned that the US film industry is “losing very fast deaths,” saying that other countries “providing all the incentives to separate filmmakers and studios from the United States.”
“We’re working on that,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote on X on Sunday evening.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry.
On Monday, shares in US streaming platforms and production companies fell as uncertainty loomed, especially as Trump Post didn’t say whether tariffs would apply to movies distributed to streaming platforms.
Netflix stocks fell 1.7% by early afternoon, while Amazon fell 1.5%. Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount fell by 1.1% and 1% respectively.
In Australia and New Zealand, it serves as the leading production hub for global franchises such as the Lord of the Rings series, Tolkienesque cousin, the Hobbit and various Marvel films, and lawmakers from those countries responded that they would defend their respective film industry.
Australia’s Home Minister Tony Burke said he had spoken with the head of the government’s body screens about Australia’s proposal and “no one will stand up clearly for the rights of the Australian screen industry.”
And New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said, “We’ll have to look at the details of what will eventually emerge. But we’re clearly the great advocates of that field in that industry and become great champions.”
In the UK, lawmakers also warned that such tariffs “is not in the interest of American companies,” and the UK Media Coalition Bectu urged the UK government to protect the country’s “critical” film sector, warning that employment of tens of thousands of freelances could be at risk.
Sunday’s announcement follows Trump’s previous pledge to boost the US film industry. However, according to the Hollywood Reporter, the White House began walking the Trump announcement Monday afternoon.
Shortly before taking office, Trump appointed actors John Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson as Hollywood’s “special ambassadors.”
The Associated Press reported that it is common for major blockbusters and small-scale films to film the scene both in the US and internationally. Large projects often span multiple countries.
According to the Associated Press, the incentive program has influenced the creation of films, increasingly promoting California-to-state film production, which offers more favorable tax incentives, such as Canada and the UK.
Film and television production in LA, a nonprofit that tracks production in the Los Angeles area, has fallen nearly 40% over the past decade, according to Filmla.
Trump’s announcement on Sunday comes after he caused a trade war with China, imposing global tariffs, unsettling global markets, and fears about the possibility of a US recession.
In April, China, now the world’s second largest film market after the US, responded to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products by reducing the country’s allowable quotas for American films.