U.S. President Donald Trump ignited a firestorm on Sunday by announcing plans to slap a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States, arguing that foreign production incentives are gutting America’s movie industry and putting national security at risk.
Taking to his Truth Social platform, Trump declared, “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,” punctuating the post with a call to action: “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick quickly backed Trump’s statement, replying, “We’re on it,” but offered no immediate clarification on how such a sweeping measure would be implemented or enforced.
The move comes at a time when Trump’s trade agenda is under renewed scrutiny, with China already facing tariffs as high as 145% on various goods. Last month, Beijing responded by reducing its import of U.S. films — a move seen as retaliatory. Trump’s latest directive risks escalating tensions further, while rattling an already fragile entertainment industry struggling to bounce back from the aftershocks of COVID-19 and prolonged labor strikes.
Trump painted a dire picture, writing, “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States.” He further claimed that the outsourcing of film production represented a “National Security threat.”
Though Trump’s statement focused solely on feature films, there was no mention of whether the tariffs would extend to television productions, a booming sector of global entertainment.
The U.S. film sector remains a major pillar of the national economy, supporting over 2.3 million jobs and generating $279 billion in sales in 2022, according to the