In a bold move that extends his trade war to the realm of entertainment, U.S. President Donald Trump has called for a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.
The announcement came via a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday evening. Trump revealed that he had directed the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative to implement a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S. and imported into the country.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote, highlighting the growing competition from other nations. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States.”
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Trump’s solution? A drastic tariff: “Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
This comes as a response to the shrinking U.S. box office, which saw a dramatic fall from just under $12 billion in 2018 to a mere $2 billion in 2020, largely due to the pandemic’s impact on theaters.
While the industry has slowly bounced back, the number of film releases has been halved, and the total box office earnings have yet to surpass $9 billion since.