Reference News Network reported on October 1 US President Donald Trump said on September 29 that he would impose a 100% tariff on ¡°all films¡± produced abroad, claiming other countries are putting Hollywood at a disadvantage.

On September 30th, at the White House in Washington, DC, US President Trump walked in the White House Rose Garden Xinhua News Agency

Trump wrote on Real Social: ¡°Other countries have ¡®unnecessarily¡¯ stolen our production from the United States.¡±

Analysts point out that many films are produced jointly by several countries and are not imported in a conventional manner, which means that the U.S. government will need to price them and determine that they are not imported.

According to a report on the CNN website on September 29, US President Trump posted on the "Real Social" website on the 29th that a 100% tariff would be imposed on all films made outside the United States.

Trump did not specify when or how the tariffs would be imposed.

If Trump does follow through on this threat, it will mark the first time he has imposed tariffs on a service rather than a good.

Trump initially threatened in May to impose a 100% tariff on films made in foreign countries, arguing that tax incentives offered by other countries had attracted filmmakers to make films abroad. In a post posted on the 29th, he specifically mentioned California, saying that California was "particularly severely affected!"

In May this year, when Trump first announced that he would impose tariffs on foreign-made films, Hollywood had no time to do so. An insider told a CNN reporter: ¡°At first glance, this was shocking and would cause filmmaking to almost stop. But in fact, he didn¡¯t have the jurisdiction to do that, and it was too complicated to execute.¡±

American actors and directors usually prefer to work close to home. Jay Zurez, vice chairman of United Talent Agency, told CNN reporters in May, but "the fact is that it is cheaper for Hollywood studios to pay for air tickets and hotels for everyone (to go abroad) because overseas production is much cheaper."

Following Trump¡¯s remarks on social media, Neptune¡¯s stock price fell 1 percent on the morning of the opening, while other film-related companies, including AMC Entertainment Holdings and Walt Disney, opened up.

Since the new coronavirus, the number of films released in U.S. cinemas has dropped dramatically, U.S. box office revenue has fallen, and consumers have changed their viewing habits, now they prefer to go out and watch movies on streaming platforms.

U.S. box office total revenue peaked at $12 billion in 2018 and then fell in 2020, when many cinemas were shut down due to the New Crown epidemic and the national box office total revenue was slightly higher than $2 billion. Though the number of U.S. cinemas has rebounded now, the number of films released is about half in 2019. Since 2019, U.S. box office total revenue has not exceeded $9 billion. So far this year, Warner Bros. Explore¡¯s global box office revenue has reached $4 billion and is the first filmmaker to reach this level.

previous reports

European Parliament officials urge countries to react like China

After using "tariff bars" to restrict imports of goods, U.S. President Trump recently played this set on the film industry in the field of service trade, announcing that it will impose a 100% tariff on all overseas produced films.

According to the "Politico EU" local time on May 5th, the news came out that on the other side of the Atlantic, confusion and complex emotions are intertwined, European filmmakers are waiting hard, they fear the industry in which they are likely to become the next area involved in Trump's trade war.

¡°We feel (the movie) could be a battlefield (in a trade war).We are entering an unpredictable era,¡± Pascal Rogard, president of the Association of French Drama Writers and Composers (SACD), said: ¡°This is against international commitments.¡±

"Driving the European film industry out of the U.S. market is a dangerous move towards cultural isolationism," said Nela Riehl, a German Green Party member who chairs the European Parliament's Culture Committee."Protectionism in the industry will only encourage other regions to take countermeasures, as we have seen from China."

Cannes Film Festival website

On May 4 local time, Trump posted a message on social platforms stating that he authorized the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to immediately initiate procedures to impose a 100% tariff on all films made abroad and entering the United States.

He claimed that the American film industry is dying rapidly, and other countries are providing various incentives to attract American filmmakers and studios to leave the United States. "Hollywood and many other areas in the United States are suffering heavy losses. This is an action jointly planned by other countries and poses a threat to national security."

Although the criteria for defining what ¡°made abroad¡± is still unclear and controversial, one French insider said: ¡°This political gesture is in line with our expectations,¡± while another anonymous person interviewed by POLITICO EU said: ¡°Everyone is trying to figure out what it means, or what it might mean.¡±

In addition, there are others who strongly criticize the damage that Trump¡¯s move could cause to the industry.

Laurence Farreng, a member of the European Parliament's centrist group Renew Europe, warned: "Imposing tariffs will ultimately punish American industries." She revealed that a group of MPs from the European Parliament's Culture Committee will visit Los Angeles at the end of May to meet with American film producers.

According to a Reuters report on May 5, the White House has not announced the legal basis for the move, nor has it announced details of how it will be implemented. White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said on the same day that the Trump administration has not yet made any final decision on foreign film tariffs, but is exploring all options to fulfill President Trump's instructions to Hollywood,"protecting our country's national and economic security while 'making Hollywood great again'."

In addition, the U.S. Trade Representative¡¯s Office did not immediately comment. U.S. Trade Secretary Lutnik responded simply, ¡°We are dealing with it.¡±

POLITICO EU also noted that the Trump administration has not yet explained how the tariffs on films will work and what their exact objectives are.A White House official, who is reluctant to disclose the details of the internal process, said: ¡°The (US) Department of Commerce is addressing the issue, potentially involving areas such as film copyright.¡±

However, some American experts have pointed out that according to the "Berman Amendment" enacted in 1988, the film industry originally enjoyed tariff exemption. According to the report, no matter what form the final policy takes, this new tariff may become one of the bargaining chips that are constantly used for bargaining in the trade confrontation between the United States and Europe.

Trump's appointment of "Hollywood ambassadors" from left to right: Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Waite, respectively.

According to Trump¡¯s social media post, he mentioned that the U.S. film industry is ¡°rapidly dying out¡± while data showed that Los Angeles¡¯ filming days have dropped from 3,901 in 2017 to 2,403 in 2024, down by 38%, highlighting a continued shrinking of its global influence.

In fact, in a White House memorandum released on February 21 this year, Trump already hinted at his intentions towards the film and television industries. At the time, he criticized EU media regulations for "forcing U.S. streaming media platforms to fund local production", pointing directly to the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which allows EU member states to impose investment obligations on streaming media platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney + to support the production of European works.

With the 78th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival set to kick off in France next week, this latest controversial move by Trump could be in the spotlight, and filmmakers from the Association of French Filmmakers (ARP) are ready to speak out.

"I will be attending the Cannes Film Festival and I believe this topic will keep producers very busy. It will be interesting to hear whether they can survive leaving markets like Europe. There is no doubt that they will drive things forward, just as manufacturers in other industries in the United States do." Frank said.

"For now, this is just a statement from Trump," Lill said."The EU is already working hard to provide more opportunities and visibility for the localization and globalization of European films. This 'more European' approach will now be the way we move forward."

Image by Trump Network.

Trump's move to target the film industry is tantamount to a thunder on the ground for the Hollywood film and television industry in the United States. While the relevant tariff policy was still unclear, Hollywood industry insiders met overnight to try to figure out how the policy would operate and the specific tax standards. Some people question that Trump needs to clarify how to define "American movies" before promulgating policies.

According to reports by Reuters, Bloomberg and other media on May 4, in recent years, in order to reduce costs, many big-budget Hollywood films have begun to be filmed and produced outside the United States. At present, several major overseas filming locations in Hollywood-the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand-have responded to this.

US media quoted analysis as saying that the Hollywood film and television industry has not yet recovered from the epidemic and wildfires, and this move will be another blow to an industry that has been severely weakened. A scholar in China Hong Kong said that the United States imports very few films from abroad, and Trump's move is more aimed at American films themselves. Some American analysts warned that if other countries take countermeasures,"this will kill our film industry and we will lose more than we will lose."

Exclusive texts of this section are not reproduced without authorization.