President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he will impose a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States. He cited national security concerns and a desire to revitalize America’s “dying” film industry as the primary motivations behind the decision and pointed to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The president authorized the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce to immediately begin the process of levying the tariffs, framing foreign film subsidies as a “concerted effort” by other nations to undermine Hollywood’s global dominance.
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“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump declared on Truth Social. “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!”
Speaking to reporters outside Marine One on Monday morning, the president further blamed a “grossly incompetent governor,” Governor Newsom, for the perceived decline of Hollywood.
“I’ve done some very strong research over the past week, and we’re making very few movies now,” Trump stated. “Hollywood is being destroyed. Now, you have an incompetent, grossly incompetent governor that allowed that to happen, so I’m not just blaming other nations. But other nations, a lot of them, have stolen our movie industry. If they’re not willing to make a movie inside the United States, then we should have a tariff on movies that come in.”
Data from ProdPro, a firm specializing in tracking global film budgets, indicates that approximately half of all U.S. spending on film and television projects exceeding $40 million in 2023 occurred outside the United States.
This trend was further exacerbated by the Los Angeles fires in January, according to FilmLA, a nonprofit that issues shoot permits in the city. Their first-quarter production report revealed a 22.4% year-over-year plunge in L.A. on-location production, including a 28.9% slide for feature films and a 30.5% hit to television.
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