Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new tariffs on all films produced outside the United States, claiming the American movie industry is being "devastated" by international competition and foreign incentives luring filmmakers away from Hollywood.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump said he had authorized the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to implement a 100% tariff on all foreign-made movies entering the country.
“WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” he declared.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the directive, saying, “We’re on it,” though no details were provided about how or when the tariffs would be enacted.
Trump’s announcement follows China’s recent move to scale back imports of U.S. films and comes amid broader criticism of his administration’s aggressive trade policy. China has been hit hardest by Trump's tariffs, with rates reaching as high as 145% on some goods.
Trump said American studios were being drawn abroad by foreign tax incentives, which he labeled a “national security threat.” He added, “Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.”
The implications for the U.S. film industry remain unclear, particularly regarding whether the tariffs would also apply to television series, a growing and lucrative segment of the entertainment market.
Hollywood remains a cornerstone of the American economy, generating over $279 billion in sales and supporting 2.3 million jobs in 2022, according to the Motion Picture Association. But the industry is still recovering from the pandemic and the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes, with a significant drop in domestic film production spending.
According to a report by ProdPro, U.S. production spend fell 26% over two years, and studio executives now prefer overseas locations such as Toronto, the U.K., Central Europe, and Australia, all of which offer attractive tax breaks. California ranked sixth among preferred filming destinations for 2025 and 2026.
Trump, who has traditionally lacked support from Hollywood’s elite, recently named actors Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight as special envoys to Hollywood. He vowed the trio would help restore the entertainment industry’s strength, declaring it would become “STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE.”
The proposed tariffs mark a dramatic new front in Trump’s ongoing effort to reshape global trade — this time targeting the silver screen.