The announcement has rocked the worldwide film business since the US is now one of the biggest markets for Indian films, especially blockbusters in Telugu and Bollywood.
After US President Donald Trump declared he was directing the Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to impose a 100% tariff on all films arriving into the country produced “in foreign lands,” Sunday night the US film business was on tenterhooks.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump claimed the US film business was “dying a very fast death” as studios and filmmakers were being lured abroad by incentives, a situation the White House incumbent called a threat to national security. With an all-caps “We want movies made in America, again!” he signed off.
US studio, streamer and independent productions have shot in Canada, Eastern Europe, the UK, Australia and other locations for years to escape exorbitant costs in cities like Los Angeles, benefiting from lucrative incentives, cheaper costs, and competent international crews.
There are numerous unknowns, and no studio sources have spoken on Sunday night.
In his post, Trump referenced movies but not television. Except for China, he has stopped executing a frenzy of duties on imported goods from all throughout the world. A World Trade Organization ban prevents nations from taxing digital goods as films are essentially digital products.
Whether film taxes encompass post-production services and when and exactly they would take effect was not known. Trump’s tariff plans up to now have not included services. Sources said the matter was complex and would probably take time to manifest. The White House occupant is famously impulsive and unstable; so, there is still chance that he may back off some of his declaration and try to prevent another kind of uncontrolled production.
Nobody knew how duties would be computed or whether the suggested tariffs would impact American films shot entirely or partially abroad. Marvel from Disney has a UK base, and Avengers: Doomsday started filming in March. The fourth Spider-Man installment from Sony/Marvel featuring Tom Holland is set to film in the UK later this year.
Universal is said to be filming some of Christpher Nolan’s The Odyssey in Los Angeles, while it has been filming elsewhere including Morocco. Warner Bros has Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in the UK, and apparently JJ Abrams’ next project is under pre-production there. Netflix licenses movies from all around the world and has a big worldwide production schedule including originals.
Whether the tax would be retroactive, affecting forthcoming releases such Paramount/Skydance’s Memorial Day tentpole and Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which shot at Pinewood Studios last year, was also front of mind.
The decree issued by Trump has scared the independent business as it gets ready to descend on Cannes for a rigorous week or two of rights trading and co-production negotiations.
In principle, a 100% levy on films made outside the US may have significant effects on US consumers of foreign films, which become increasingly important at a festival like Cannes and can have significant impact during awards season. Whether there will be a budget limit for movies impacted remained unknown.
China recently said it was restricting the quantity of Hollywood films it will import. It is in a growing trade battle with the US and faces a 145% tariff on its commodities entering the nation. American sales representatives will now be asking whether foreign purchasers of their films would have to operate under reciprocal tariffs enforced by their nations according to ndtv.
California reward system
Over the past year or so, US production worldwide has become increasingly important as the effects of the Hollywood strikes of 2023 direct filmmakers, studios, and independents to film in other nations.
Two bills are under review by the state assembly to expand the scope and rebate level while California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing to more than double the annual investment of $330 million to $750m.
A federal production incentive has been under development with industry assistance and touches on sensitive issues including economic development and job creation.
The problem would seem to line up with Trump’s policy of generating American jobs. Ironically, Adam Schiff, the junior senator from California, is not a Trump favorite after he was assigned lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.
How Trump’s so-called special ambassadors to Hollywood, Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight, fit all this remained unknown.
Though specifics have not surfaced, Voight is reportedly working on a plan. Apart from their long ties to studios, Gibson and Stallone are also independent icons who have directed, starred in, and produced expensive movies created inside the independent sector.
Not so long ago Gibson told Fox News it was less expensive for him to fly a complete crew to Europe and pay for lodging for a three-day shoot than it would be to film one day in Los Angeles.
In its most recent report in April, FilmLA noted that first quarter feature production levels fell by 28.9% and that 2024 was the second least productive year behind Covid-afflicted 2020.
Trump’s post on Truth Social in full
The Movie Industry in America is DYING. Very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of Incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.
This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!
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