On September 29, Trump announced that he intends to impose a 100% tariff on all movies being sent to the United States.
This is a more assertive repeat of the same threat made back in May.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing candy from a baby,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social.
Reuters
Trump struggled to justify these tariffs, as the American film industry already has a $15.3 billion trade surplus as of 2023 (keep in mind that Trump often assesses trade imbalance almost solely on surpluses and deficits). He also provided few details about how the tariffs would actually function; modern films, especially major ones, are in a production process, as well as a post-production process, that spans the globe.
Thousands of American workers employed oversees are at risk of bearing the brunt of these tariffs. The renewal of these tariff threats has reignited concern throughout the global film industry, which is bracing for higher costs.
As was the case with other tariffs imposed by Trump in his second term, these may be deemed illegal as well.
