The White House said ‘all options’ are being explored after Trump authorized a 100 percent tariff on movies made outside the United States.
The White House clarified on May 5 that no final decisions have been made on imposing tariffs on foreign-made films, while “all options” remain under consideration following President Donald Trump’s directive to explore trade measures aimed at revitalizing the U.S. movie industry.
“Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
Desai’s comment followed Trump’s May 4 Truth Social post in which he accused foreign governments of luring U.S. film production overseas through generous incentives and described the trend as a coordinated threat to U.S. culture and national security.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote in the post. “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.”
Trump said he authorized the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100 percent Tariff on any and all Movies coming into [the United States] that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
“We want movies made in America, again!” he wrote in all capital letters.
The president’s comments on using tariffs to protect the U.S. film industry—and subsequent White House clarification that all options are being explored—come amid a sharp decline in U.S.-based film production. Hollywood recorded just 451 shoot days for feature films in the first quarter of 2025—a nearly 29 percent drop from the same period last year, according to recent data from FilmLA. Industry observers and recent reports point to the growing appeal of foreign locations, where looser tax rules, cheaper labor, and generous subsidies have lured productions overseas.
By Tom Ozimek
