US President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States, claiming that foreign incentives were crippling the American movie industry and posing a threat to national security.
“The American film industry is dying a very fast death,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a national security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda.”
Trump said he had directed federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce, to begin the immediate implementation of the tariff. “We want movies made in America, again!” he added in capital letters.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the directive on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “We’re on it.” Neither Trump nor Lutnick offered details about how the tariffs would be calculated or enforced.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry on Sunday night. Hollywood executives said they were scrambling to understand whether the tariff would apply to streaming content as well as theatrical releases, and whether it would be based on production budgets, revenue, or another metric.
The Motion Picture Association, which represents major Hollywood studios, declined to comment.
The move is the latest in a series of Trump’s efforts to revive domestic film production. In January, he appointed actors Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson to lead efforts to bring Hollywood back “bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Hollywood has long been losing productions to other countries offering generous tax credits and cash rebates. Governments across the globe have ramped up their efforts to attract a slice of the $248 billion expected to be spent worldwide on film and television content in 2025, according to Ampere Analysis.
Today, major studios including Disney, Netflix and Universal regularly shoot films abroad, particularly in countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
In 2023, nearly half of all spending by American producers on high-budget film and television projects—those costing more than $40 million—took place outside the US, according to research firm ProdPro.
In Los Angeles, film and TV production has declined by nearly 40% over the past decade, according to FilmLA, a non-profit that tracks regional production. Wildfires in January intensified fears that even more productions could relocate permanently, taking with them thousands of jobs tied to the industry.
A recent ProdPro survey found California had dropped to sixth place on the list of preferred filming locations, behind Toronto, the UK, Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia.
Trump’s proposed tariff quickly drew reactions abroad. Officials in Australia and New Zealand said they would push to protect their local film sectors, both of which have hosted major productions including Marvel superhero franchises and The Lord of the Rings.
But trade experts warned the policy could backfire. William Reinsch, a former Commerce Department official and now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the decision could trigger costly retaliation from US trading partners.
“The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain,” he said. “It’s hard to make a national security or emergency case for movies.”
Boluwatife Enome
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