Trump Once Again Says Movies Made Outside the US Will Face 100% Tariffs
President Donald Trump has once again threatened to impose 100% tariffs on movies made outside of the United States — but it remains unclear what that would actually look like.
Trump took to Truth Social today (Monday), to say that “our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby’.” He made a similar announcement back in May.
Calling the Governor of California Gavin Newsom “weak and incompetent”, Trump said that he will impose a “100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.”
Hollywood’s Downturn
Trump’s remarks come at a time when Hollywood is struggling. In 2025, film production has dropped noticeably, with shoot days falling 22% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2024, according to FilmLA, the nonprofit that issues the city’s film permits.
Los Angeles now faces stiff competition from other jurisdictions, namely Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, which all offer financial incentives to Hollywood producers. And while California still hosts the most productions, its slice of the cake is down to an all-time low of 20%, and that is getting smaller.
The downturn probably has the biggest effect on the unsung heroes of Hollywood, camera assistants, electricians, carpenters, sound engineers, and makeup artists. If they were to leave Hollywood, it could be a death knell for moviemaking there.
But whether tariffs would help Hollywood and how they would work remain a mystery. The president has offered little in the way of how he would implement the tariffs or even when they might be enacted. If Trump did go through with the tariffs, then it would mark the first time he imposed one on a service rather than a product.
Beyond that, it’s unclear how a tariff would be applied to a film since it’s not being imported through US ports of entry. Tariffs are applicable to physical goods imported into a country, whereas movies and TV shows are mostly digital items that are streamed by viewers rather than purchased as physical media. There is, unsurprisingly, confusion regarding whether this will also apply to the import of foreign films and even streaming media such as animated films produced overseas, and how that would be calculated.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
