The president said the move is necessary to protect the once globally dominant U.S. movie industry.
President Donald Trump announced on May 4 that he was authorizing his administration to impose a 100 percent tariff on movies produced outside of the United States.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative would immediately start to process the implementation of the levy on all movies “produced in foreign lands.”
Trump said the move was necessary to protect the once globally dominant U.S. movie industry, as he noted that some countries have been offering incentives to attract American filmmakers and studios overseas.
He warned that the local industry is “dying a very fast death,” with Hollywood and many other local entertainment businesses facing devastation.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda,” Trump stated. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
The U.S. movie industry has already been impacted by Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, after China—the world’s second-largest film market—moved to restrict the number of American movies allowed into the Chinese market on April 10 as part of its retaliatory measures against U.S. tariffs.
The Trump administration has currently imposed a 145 percent tariff on all China-origin imports and China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) retaliated with a 125 percent tariff on U.S. goods.
Trump imposed the tariffs to pressure the CCP into addressing the trade deficit with the United States. The White House stated on April 15 that China faces up to 245 percent reciprocal tariffs due to its retaliatory actions.
During an NBC interview on May 4, Trump said he has no intention of reducing tariffs on China-origin goods just to begin talks with Beijing, as the CCP has demanded.
“At some point, I’m going to lower them because otherwise, you could never do business with them and they want to do business very much,” he said. “Look, their economy is really doing badly. Their economy is collapsing.”
