\n<\/p>\n
More than 100 days into his presidency, Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s ongoing trade war<\/a> is coming to a theater near you. On Sunday, Trump announced his intention to put a 100% tariff on films produced outside of the United States, writing on Truth Social<\/a> that the movie industry is dying a \u201cvery fast death\u201d because of financial incentives offered by other countries to American productions.<\/p>\n Trump said he is authorizing a tax on \u201cany and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,\u201d adding that any outsourcing beyond American soil \u201cis a concerted effort by other Nations, and, therefore, a National Security threat.\u201d He concluded: \u201cWE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!\u201d<\/p>\n Though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick<\/strong> issued a quick reply on X<\/a>\u2014\u201cWe\u2019re on it\u201d\u2014it was not immediately clear how such a tariff would be implemented, on which productions it could be enforced, or exactly what part of the moviemaking process would be taxed. \u201cCan\u2019t see his target here other than confusion and distraction,\u201d a US distribution executive told Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n Would American distributors be taxed when they acquire foreign titles, or only when American productions shoot overseas? Are streaming-only productions and TV series exempt from such a tax? Will upcoming summer blockbusters<\/a> like Mission: Impossible\u2014The Final Reckoning<\/em> and Jurassic World Rebirth<\/a>,<\/em> both filmed primarily in other countries, be somehow subject to retroactive taxes? Given the 1988 Berman Amendment<\/a>, which Trump cited<\/a> in his first major tariff announcement in early April, can movies even legally be<\/em> taxed? And, like Trump\u2019s other sweeping tariffs on global goods<\/a>, would levies make tickets to foreign films more expensive?<\/p>\n Amid the flurry of uncertainties surrounding Trump\u2019s plan, The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a> reports that stocks in Netflix, Walt Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery fell on Monday. Countries including Australia and New Zealand have vowed<\/a> their continued support for American productions that film in those countries. And California governor Gavin Newsom,<\/strong> who has expressed his interest<\/a> in doubling his state\u2019s offering of film and TV tax incentives, has had his staff speak out against the president. \u201cWe believe he has no authority to impose tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act<\/a>, since tariffs are not listed as a remedy under that law,\u201d Newsom senior adviser for communications Bob Salladay<\/strong> told Deadline<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that in recent years, fewer films have indeed been produced solely in the US. Hollywood has increasingly relied on work done in so-called \u201cForeign Lands\u201d to combat rising labor costs<\/a> and reap overseas tax credits. As the Times<\/em> reported, \u201cAccording to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, roughly 18,000 full-time American film industry jobs have been eliminated<\/a> in the past three years, primarily in California.\u201d And the industry has yet to fully recover from the dual actors and writers strikes<\/a> in 2023. A recent report from FilmLA<\/a> says that shooting in LA decreased more than 22% for the three-month period from January to March 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024, per The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>.<\/p>\n But the film industry is also one of America\u2019s most lucrative service-sector exports. According to the latest economic impact report<\/a> from the Motion Picture Association, which represents major studios, Hollywood \u201cgenerated a positive U.S. balance of trade in every major market in the world.\u201d (A rep for the organization declined to comment to Vanity Fair.<\/em>) Enhanced tax credits for US-based productions seem like a better way to incentivize local filming than putting penalties on productions that involve other countries.<\/p>\n \u201cHe will kill the U.S. industry quicker as this will increase the cost of U.S. films that already weren\u2019t selling well internationally,\u201d a veteran French distributor told Deadline<\/a>. \u201cCreating an incentive for shooting in the U.S. would have been smarter, but I\u2019m not sure he has that much intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n Even before his latest proclamation, Trump\u2019s trade war with China has wreaked havoc on the film business<\/a>. Just last month, China said it would \u201cmoderately reduce\u201d<\/a> the number of Hollywood films allowed into its theaters. Further tariffs would shrink \u201cthe entire global market,\u201d someone from a leading US film company, who works on both domestic and international productions, recently told Deadline<\/a>. \u201cWe won\u2019t be able to make movies for the same budgets, actors won\u2019t get paid the same fees and the list goes on. Simply, it would destroy the independent sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n