Film industries around the world were surprised and confused this week by President Trump's announcement that he wanted to impose a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S. But the president's plan seems to be far from final — and his announcement has kicked off a broader conversation about the film industry's current struggles and potential policy solutions.
"The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death," he posted Sunday night on Truth Social. "Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States."
The president later appeared to hedge on his initial plan for tariffs, telling reporters on Monday he was not looking to hurt the American film industry, and wants to meet with entertainment business leaders to make sure they're happy with his plan to bring back movie jobs.
"Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business," he said. "They have a nice sign and everything's good, but they don't do very much."
A visit from Jon Voight over the weekend
Trump's Truth Social announcement came after he met with actor Jon Voight and two business associates over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago. The president named Voight one of his "special ambassadors" to Hollywood earlier this year — along with Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson.
In a video shared with NPR this week, Voight said he presented Trump, who he called a friend, a plan to "rescue" the American film industry with federal tax incentives, co-production treaties with other countries and subsidies for theater owners and film and TV production companies. Voight called Trump "the greatest president since Abe Lincoln" and said the president "loves the entertainment business, and wants to see Hollywood thrive and make films bigger and greater than ever before."
The trade publication Deadline later printed Voight's proposal, suggesting it included a 10% base rate federal tax credit for film and TV productions that could be combined with other credits — and an "American cultural test" that productions would have to meet to qualify.
Voight's advisor Steven Paul, the CEO of SP Media Group, sent NPR a statement that the draft document was part of a private discussion not meant to be shared publicly.
"All of the ideas contained in the document were crafted solely for the purpose of discussion," he wrote. "They are not intended to drive definitive political action, nor do they reflect any formal policy or position."
He wrote that the document was the result of "broad conversations" that he and Voight had shared with guilds, unions, studios, and more about how to "strengthen the future of our industry."
Production levels have been a growing concern in Hollywood
Trump's initial announcement on Sunday gave few details, leaving many in the film industry to question how a tariff on films made outside the U.S. would work: Who would have to pay the tariffs? The studios? Film distributors? Will ticket prices go up? Would tariffs apply to international films or to American films shooting or filming around the world? What about TV and streaming shows?
The news led to speculation on social media and in industry group chats, even late night talk show jokes. "Next year, The White Lotus is gonna be set at a Hampton Inn," Jimmy Kimmel quipped on his show Monday night.
Stock shares of Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Comcast dipped briefly during early-morning trading on Monday, after Trump's announcement went public.
So far, studio executives have not commented about the tariff plan publicly. Neither has the Motion Picture Association, whose members include the major Hollywood studios.
Though Trump blamed Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week for "allowing" productions to leave California, Newsom signaled an openness to collaborate with the president to increase U.S. incentives for film and TV production — to the tune of $7.5 billion dollars in federal tax credits.
"We're eager to partner with the Trump administration to further strengthen domestic production and Make America Film Again," Newsom said in a statement. Last fall, Newsom proposed more than doubling the current $350 million tax credit program for productions to shoot and film in California.
Meanwhile, Trump's tariff idea was applauded by leaders of the Teamsters labor union.
"For years, Hollywood studios have hollowed out the industry by following Corporate America's crooked playbook of outsourcing good union jobs. Studios chase cheap production costs overseas while gutting the American workforce that built the film and TV industry," General President Sean O'Brien and Teamsters Motion Picture Division Director Lindsay Dougherty said in a statement posted on X. "This is a strong step toward finally reining in the studios' un-American addiction to outsourcing our members' work."
The head of IATSE, the union representing behind-the-scenes entertainment workers, said in a statement that any plan must not harm the U.S. or Canadian film industries.
Studios and unions around the world are worried a tariff on movies made outside of the U.S. could spell the end of their own production industries.
For decades, Canada, the UK, Australia and nearly 100 other countries have offered international productions generous tax incentives, rebates and grants to shoot or film in their countries. Some have even built new sound studios to entice productions wanting to cut costs.
Trump said on Truth Social that those global incentives are a "threat" to national security, and that his tariff proposal is meant to bring back show business jobs.
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