Trump announces 100% tariffs on movies ‘produced in foreign lands’

Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on all movies “produced in Foreign Lands” on his Truth Social platform, citing the decline of the US film industry due to incentives offered by other countries to attract American filmmakers. Trump stated that he had authorized the commerce department and the US trade representative to implement the tariff immediately, calling it a national security threat and propaganda by other nations. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed they were working on it, but did not provide details on the implementation, leaving it unclear if the tariff would target foreign or American production companies making films overseas. Los Angeles has seen a 40% decline in film and television production over the past decade, while global spending on content production is predicted to reach $248 billion by 2025. Politicians in Australia and New Zealand expressed support for their film industries following Trump’s announcement, with plans to advocate for their respective sectors. The move comes after Trump’s trade war with China and global tariffs, impacting the film industry, as China reduced the quota of American movies allowed in the country in response. William Reinsch, a former senior commerce department official, warned that retaliatory measures against Trump’s foreign movies tariffs could be detrimental to the US industry, making it hard to justify the move on national security grounds.