US President Donald Trump has said he was ordering new tariffs on all films made outside the United States, claiming Hollywood was being “devastated” by a trend of US filmmakers and studios working abroad.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Mr Trump said he was authorising the relevant government agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, to immediately begin the process of imposing a 100% tariff on all films produced abroad that are then sent into the United States.
He added: “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posting on X said: “We’re on it.”
Neither Mr Lutnick nor the US president provided any details on how the tariffs would be implemented.
It was unclear if the tariffs would apply to movies on streaming services as well as those shown in cinemas, or if they would be calculated based on production costs or box office revenue.
Hollywood executives were trying to sort out details.
In January, Mr Trump appointed Hollywood veterans Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson to bring Hollywood back “bigger, better and stronger than ever before”.
Movie and TV production has been exiting Hollywood for years, heading to locations with tax incentives that make filming cheaper, with Ireland being one of many countries to benefit from these arrangements.
Governments around the world have increased credits and cash rebates to attract productions and capture a greater share of the $248 billion that Ampere Analysis predicts will be spent globally in 2025 to produce content.
All major media companies, including Walt Disney, Netflix and Universal Pictures, film overseas in countries such as Ireland, Canada and the UK.
In 2023, about half of the spending on movie and TV projects with budgets of more than $40 million went outside the US, according to research firm ProdPro.
Film and television production has fallen by nearly 40% over the last decade in Hollywood’s home city of Los Angeles, according to Film LA, a non-profit that tracks the region’s production.
The January wildfires accelerated concerns that producers may look outside Los Angeles, and that camera operators, costume designers, sound technicians and other behind-the-scenes workers may move out of town rather than try to rebuild in their neighbourhoods.
Hollywood producers and labour unions have been urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to boost the state’s tax incentives to better compete with other locations.
US actor Rob Lowe recently called out California’s low film industry incentives, admitting “it’s cheaper to bring 100 people to Ireland” to have a project filmed.
Over 850 TV and film productions have claimed Irish tax relief since 2016.
