Trump’s 100% Tariff on Foreign Films and Hollywood’s Hidden Crisis

Wants to revive the spirit of classic Hollywood

U.S. President Donald Trump (78) caused a stir on May 4 (local time) when he announced on his own social media platform a policy to impose a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States.

His post began with a shocking statement:

“The American film industry is rapidly dying.”

He went on to warn:

“Other countries are offering all kinds of incentives to lure filmmakers and studios away from America. Hollywood and many other regions within the United States are suffering devastating blows.”

Trump then declared that he had granted the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative the authority to:

“Immediately begin the process of imposing a 100% tariff on all films produced abroad and imported into our country.”

Interestingly, the target of Trump’s film tariff appears not only to be foreign films, but primarily Hollywood films that are increasingly being shot overseas. His apparent goal is to revive the classic era of Hollywood, when all productions were made entirely within the U.S.

A Japanese distributor of Western films, upon hearing Trump’s announcement, remarked:

“Transitioning to purely domestic production, hiring U.S. staff and filming within the country, would be extremely difficult. It would likely lead to soaring production costs, shrinking profits, and higher ticket prices — potentially accelerating the decline of Hollywood itself.”

The issue of tariffs on streaming films such as those from Netflix

Back in December 1982, when talking about Hollywood films being shot outside the U.S., I had the opportunity to interview Sean Connery at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, where filming was underway for Never Say Never Again, the 007 film marking his return to the Bond role after 12 years.

At the time, I was surprised to hear that Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) had also used the same studio as its base. Even then, it was becoming more common for major U.S. studios to shoot overseas, as using foreign studios and staff was cheaper than filming on sound stages and hiring crews within the U.S.

Several Star Wars films were shot at Pinewood Studios, along with other American blockbusters like the Alien series, Batman Returns, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Major productions have also taken place in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere. A system emerged where a portion of Hollywood’s massive production budgets would be spent in those countries, with local governments offering incentives in exchange for the tourism boost that came from having their cities and landmarks featured on-screen. This globalization of American film production may be what’s troubling Trump’s “America First” agenda.

As one Hollywood insider notes, “The Mission: Impossible series starring Tom Cruise also filmed its first installment at Pinewood. The latest film, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, includes scenes of Cruise sprinting across Westminster Bridge in London. While it might avoid the proposed tariff for now, if the policy is enacted, future films shot primarily abroad could be considered ‘foreign-made’ and subject to a 100% tariff.”

The specifics of how such tariffs would be applied remain unclear. “Unlike cars or farm products like rice, films aren’t physical goods. They’re sent as digital data from production companies to theaters or streamed on platforms like Netflix and Disney+. Would tariffs be based on production costs for each film? Or on box office and distribution revenue in the U.S.? Or on ticket prices at theaters? If a 100% tariff were placed on ticket prices, theaters would hesitate to screen those films, and audiences might stay away — it would likely backfire,” said one industry insider.

The Los Angeles Times (online edition) reported that on the 5th, Hollywood executives scrambled to respond to President Trump’s shocking proposal to impose heavy tariffs on films produced outside the U.S. — a move that would upend decades of established movie-making practices. The policy appears to be sending shockwaves through Hollywood.

Moreover, it’s believed that the tariff would also apply to hit Japanese films like Godzilla Minus One, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, and the anime Demon Slayer, as well as to Chinese, European, and other non-American movies.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representatives, acting on Trump’s instructions, are now being closely watched to see exactly how they plan to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films. In any case, one thing is clear: it has created a major new challenge not only for Hollywood but for film industry players in Japan and other countries. Just like with cars and agricultural products, new trade negotiations over movie tariffs with a potential Trump administration may soon become unavoidable.