Donald Trump has once again focused attention with a new commercial proposal, this time aimed at the entertainment industry. In a recent publication, he said he asked the Commerce Department to impose a 100 % tariff on all films produced abroad that enter the United States. The measure, even without technical details, adds to the list of tariff threats that have characterized their economic initiatives.
Trump points to foreign cinema as a threat to the national industry
While the United States and the rest of the world continue to try to decipher the commercial movements of Donald Trump, the president has put a new industry in La Mirada: cinema. In a night publication in Truth Social, Trump said he asked the Department of Commerce and the US trade representative. UU. Apply a 100 % tariff to “all the films that enter our country and that have been produced in foreign lands.”
In his words: “The film industry in America is dying quickly. Other countries are offering incentives to attract our filmmakers and studies. Hollywood and many other areas of the United States. UU. They are being devastated.” According to him, this would constitute a threat to national security, since it also implies “messages and propaganda.” His publication culminated with an emphatic call: “We want movies made in America, again!”
However, as has happened with other economic initiatives promoted by tariffs, it is not clear how this measure would be legally or technically implemented. Although it is true that many studies film abroad to take advantage of tax benefits, this same type of incentives also exists within the US, in states such as California, Georgia or Illinois.
Despite state benefits, the Los Angeles Times He informed that national cinematographic production has been reduced by 40 % from the strikes of screenwriters and actors in 2023. This has driven proposals to create federal incentives, but it seems that Trump prefers the path of threats.
Legal uncertainty, economic consequences and market reaction
The proposal has generated numerous doubts without response. It is not clear how a tariff would be imposed on a film or if it would affect productions already underway or in postproduction. There is also uncertainty about what level of foreign participation it would be enough to activate the tariff, or if it would also apply to partially shot films in the US.
It is striking that Trump only mentions the film industry, completely omitting television, another sector that also benefits international incentives for its production.
Ambiguity is not new: many of Trump’s commercial strategies have been based on pressure tactics and vague threats to force more advantageous negotiations with other countries. It remains to be seen how foreign cinematographic industries will react if USA tries to financially penalize the entry of foreign films. It would not be the first time that the cinema is involved in these conflicts: last month, China announced that it would reduce the number of American films approved for distribution in response to tariffs imposed by the US. UU. To Chinese products.
It is not yet known if this threat will be completed or if it will have a real impact on the economy, but the markets are already reacting. According to Varietythe actions of great studies such as Netflix, Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. went down after the president’s publication.
This article has been translated from Gizmoda US by Lucas Handley. Here you can find the original version.
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