Trump Announces 100% Tariff on All Non-US Movies

United States President Donald Trump has declared he will be implementing a 100 per cent tariff on movies “produced in foreign lands.” The proclamation arrived via a Sunday afternoon social media post that asserted producing movies anywhere other than within the United States represents a “national security threat.”

“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” wrote Trump. “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! Therefore, 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. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

At this stage it’s completely unclear how such a tariff would work in a practical sense, or what productions would be specifically affected. A host of countries around the world do offer a spectrum of tax incentives that make it financially attractive for overseas productions to film in places like the UK, Australia, and a variety of European territories.

However, it’s also a reality that movies often shoot overseas because they want to transport their characters and viewers to fanciful and exotic locations. How this decree would subsequently impact the future of, say, a globetrotting action franchise like James Bond, John Wick, Extraction, or Mission: Impossible (or the production of a movie like the upcoming F1, filmed on race tracks that had the audacity to be built outside the USA) is totally unclear.

It’s also unclear how this new tariff would affect movies that are currently in production or already completed, why the plan doesn’t include TV productions, or what the fallout will be for US movies around the world if retaliation follows for penalising international productions for wanting to show their movies to US audiences.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.