US president Donald Trump on Monday appeared to temper tariff talk after his bombshell proposal to impose a 100% tax on non-US films, reportedly
US president Donald Trump on Monday appeared to temper tariff talk after his bombshell proposal to impose a 100% tax on non-US films, reportedly saying he was not looking to hurt the film industry and would be meeting with Hollywood representatives.
According to reports, the president told reporters he wanted to support the film industry. White house staff later said no final decisions have been made about imposing tariffs.
A statement to several outlets by White House spokesperson Kush Desai read, “Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again.”
Trump set alarm bells ringing throughout the film industry on Sunday night when he announced on Truth Social that he was instructing the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to begin instituting the tariff on all films coming into the country that are produced “in foreign lands”.
The declaration immediately became the number one talking point in the global film business. Without further elaboration and with just over one week to go before Cannes gets underway, the independent sector, studios, stearmers and filmmakers were scrambling to learn when tariffs might come in, how they would apply to their businesses, and whether the process was even legal.
One US sales agent said the situation was “a minefield” and speculated it would take a long time to impose, adding: “But it’s the uncertainty and loss of confidence that will cause the immediate damage.”
Until Trump’s proposed Hollywood meetings take place, uncertainty will remain after he said on Sunday that the US film industry was “dying a very fast death” as international incentives were luring production away from the United States, which he likened to a national security threat.
The prospect of 100% tariffs on non-US films would impact US buyers and in particular specialist arthouse distributors who set great store in transacting in Cannes, where non-US films proliferate in the festival selection and market. The arthouse exhibition landscape is already under threat after Trump began cancelling National Endowment for the Arts grants last week.
One distributor told Screen, “The arthouse world of ’foreign’ film releasing in the US is such a minuscule part of the American film business at large that a tariff on acquisition imports or even ticket sales would be not much more than a rounding error on the global box office of an American blockbuster and in no way a benefit to Hollywood – if anything, hastening the demise of many small independent theatres that depend on diverse viewer tastes.”
Independents and studios who produce outside the United States will want clarity on how an American film is defined, which could determine whether or not their films that shoot internationally would fall under the proposed tariff.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has said Trump administration has no authority to impose tariffs. The state of California is already suing the administration, arguing it cannot act unilaterally to impose previously announced tariffs.
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