Donald Trump has done it again. The president of the United States announced on Sunday at the Truth social network a new 100% tariff to foreign film productions in the country.
It is, according to the post, a measure that It seeks to neutralize the control acquired by third countries on its industry through tax incentivesthanks to which the filming of many American films has moved abroad.
Besides, The filmography penetration of other countries in the country is a propaganda vehiclewhich qualifies as threat to national security. An unprecedented measure, difficult to execute and, above all, severely compromises the same industry that it intends to protect.
Movies made in America, again!
Trump wants American cinema to return to the United States. And the idea that has occurred to him to achieve it is to tax foreign production with a tariff. This, within Trump’s theory, It will be the revulsive that will return the shootings to American soilgenerating jobs, promoting income and impacting a more patriotic content.
This decision is Trump’s response to the massive leakage of filming (especially large productions) outside the US. In 2024, 33% of Hollywood studies feature films filmed part of their footage outside the countryaccording to the MPAA.
These types of projects, although developed by US companies, They delocalize production to fall under the protection of tax incentives, which considerably reduces costs. For such a volatile and competitive industry, maintaining the budget under control is key to minimizing risks and maximizing benefits.
At the moment, the majors Hollywood with projects of these characteristics in progress have not made official statements. But, without a doubt, they will be doing some damage control, since the tariff could reduce (and much) the projection of their profits.
Trump’s order demonstrates a deep ignorance of the reality of the industry that tries to protect. He has sown the fear in the markets and open the door to countless little optimistic scenarios. These are some of the main unknowns:
What will be understood by foreign production?
In an increasingly globalized industry, The nationality of a film is an increasingly diffuse and difficult element to monitor. Involving third countries in a production is very common, not only for tax benefits, but also by artistic decisions.
Persecutions in cities around the world are so consubstantial to the saga of Mission Imposible like the green grasslands of New Zealand to the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings or the deserts of Jordan and Arab Emirates to the Arrakis del Dune de Denis Villeneuve.
In EuropeFor example, The legislation has clearly established the parameters that confer the European work attribute to a film through criteria related to the origin of the production, the presence of agreements or agreements with third states and other variables such as the contribution of capital, creative control or project supervision.
If Trump does not articulate a similar systemthat allows some collaboration with third countries without the loss of nationality of origin, The measure would damage, above all, the industry it intends to protect.
The list of blockbusters With international release filming that would be affected by the tax includes titles such as Mission Imposible: The Final Reckoning (United Kingdom), Avatar: Fire and Ash (New Zealand) or Ballerina (Czech Republic), among others.
Besides, A tariff could not only affect the profitability of each individual title but also to the prosperity of the sagas to which they belong. Determining nationality, in addition, will imply a bureaucratic chaos that could saturate the flow of premieres
Will it reduce the distribution of foreign films in the US?
The cinema from outside the United States will be one of the main victimssince the price of marketing agreements in a type of distribution already risky and with scarce traction at the box office will be increasing.
This raises even deeper ramifications. The first of them will affect the eligibility of foreign films to industry awards. The Oscars, for example, demand a minimum distribution in the US to be a candidate And already in current economic conditions it is a challenge for independent distributors.
A key lever for notoriety of this type of films could also be affected: the festivals circuit. These key markets for the industry could be seen without an important quota of independent film, reducing the cultural palette and eroding the discovery of talent.
Will you get tariffs back to the US?
Trump’s logic is very simple: if I penalize shootings outside the US, the films will be filmed again on American soil. But, if one takes into account that what the teams have carried out of the country are the incentives, it is necessary that they are the same in their country of origin.
If the measure is not complemented by a network of tax benefits to shoot in domestic territory, the producers will continue to face unasumumible production costs (up to 40% more expensive than in territories such as Spain or the United Kingdom).
The most pessimistic, even say that this economic order could impact on a lowering productions by resorting to virtual sets or artificial intelligence, which would erode the spectacularity of this type of projects. Others simply would make them economically unfeasible.
Different issue will be the footprint that the dismantling of films of US films will cause in the local production industry, which have been very benefited in recent years of this tendency to roll in their territories.
How will the measure be applied?
Another of the great unknowns is how the tariff will be executed. It could involve fines or levies to commercialization.
It is unknown if the industry will absorb it directly within its production and distribution budgets or if, ultimately, it will affect it directly to the final consumer (for example, raising the price of tickets).
Will the rest of the countries with similar measures respond?
It is surprising that Trump does not fear retaliation from third countries to the US cinema, especially considering that, at present, The benefits of international exploitation of Hollywood films triples to the revenue of collection in that country.
China already threatened to reduce the marketing of US titles in its movie theaters after the first wave of tariffs. That Europe or the rest of Asia do seems less likely.
Hollywood industry is one of the great exhibition engines And support your business in local productions would not be, given the current quota of non -Anglo -Saxon cinema, realistic. A fact is enough: in 2024, Hollywood cinema accumulated 77% of total collection in Spain.
How could the platform tariff like Netflix affect?
Netflix is one of the services with the greatest proportion of foreign content in its catalogmuch of which is original production. In fact, producing local content to distribute it worldwide is one of its distinctive signs.
Again, a problem of how 100% tax at the foreign productions available in their catalog and if that, eventually, would eventually force Netflix to purify foreign references to avoid the so dreaded rate.
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Tags: Commercial War, Trending, films, geopolitics, Donald Trump, United States, company, cinema
