British Film Producers Dismayed After Trump Announces 100% Tariff On Movies Produced Outside The United States, Teamsters Praise It
A number of alleged and anonymous British film producers are not happy after President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside of the United States.
President Trump announced the tariff on Truth Social writing, “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. 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,” he added. “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
He then declared, “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!”
A number of alleged and anonymous British film producers shared their dismay with Variety. One said, “This makes no sense. It implies that a U.S. film is meant to shoot in the U.S. But the ‘Harry Potter’ films, ‘Lord Of The Rings,’ ‘Schindler’s List,’ ‘Mission Impossible,’ ‘Gladiator,’ ‘Avatar’ and so many more are U.S films that shot overseas for obvious reasons. Do these films have to shoot in the U.S. from now on? It’s an absurd announcement with no meaning nor understanding of storytelling or creative impulses.”
Another British producer stated, “Even unemployed Americans are saying this is nuts — these are people who have genuinely had their careers shattered because of production moving to Europe.”
Still another British producer said, “If this goes the distance, it will decimate the industry. But you can’t just stop production,” he said. “When does it come into effect? What about movies in pre-production, that are shooting or in post? Would you just double their costs. None of this has been thought through. So I think the calm response is: Let’s see what this means, let’s see the fine print.”
While these British film producers were dismayed at the announcement of the tariff, others took a wait and see approach.
Italy’s Cinecittà Studios CEO Manuela Cacciamani, who is expected to be host Mel Gibson’s upcoming production of The Resurrection of the Christ, stated, “We are observing with the utmost attention the movements of an important market like the U.S.”
“We are convinced that especially in the cultural industry – and the audiovisual sector is at its forefront – exchanges between countries must be as reciprocal and circular as possible,” she added. “We know how much American productions benefit from our tax incentives, and above all from that ecosystem of beauty, locations, climate, culture, style, knowledge, for which they have always chosen Italy seeking quality that cannot be found elsewhere.”
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In France, Gaeten Bruel, who is the country’s President of its National Film Board claimed that “everyone would lose out, starting with the U.S. industry itself.”
He added, “Europe, and France in particular, are major markets for American works.”
Furthermore, he claimed that films could not be the subject of a tariff, “Technically, films are services on which you can’t impose tariffs. It could end up in court and take months.”
“We don’t sell goods, we sell a service, so I don’t see how it could be taxable… It’s difficult to know what we’re talking about at this stage, what it concerns. It’s still very vague and with Trump things can change every day,” he concluded.
Similarly, Italian producer Marco Valerio Pugini said, “We just have to wait and see what Trump’s next move is. It’s like in chess. We don’t know where this is going to go.”
However, he added, “But I think the U.S. studios will continue to shoot abroad when they want exotic locations. They aren’t going to start shooting James Bond in Detroit.”
The Czech Republic’s Film Commissioner Pavlína Žipková commented, “Consider the rich tradition of U.S. studios filming in Europe since the 1950s, which has always been enriching for both sides of the ocean.”
She also said, “[Trump’s] statement raises more questions than answers.”
Hungary’s Film Commissioner Csaba Kael said that the tariffs are “expected to be a lengthy process” and that he would continue to “explore further opportunities for cooperation and co-productions.”
While the British film producers were dismayed and many in Europe were taking a wait-and-see approach, the Teamsters labor union in the United States celebrated the move.
Teamsters General President Sean M. Obrien and Teamsters Motion Picture Division Director Lindsay Dougherty said in a statement, “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.”
“These gigantic corporations line their pockets by recklessly cutting corners, abandoning American crews, and exploiting tax loopholes abroad,” they continued. “While these companies get rich fleeing to other countries and gaming the system, our members have gotten screwed over.”
“The Teamsters Union has been sounding the alarm for years. If studios want to benefit from American box offices, they must invest in American workers,” the duo declared. “We thank President Trump for boldly supporting good union jobs when others have turned their heads. This is a strong step toward finally reining in the studios’ un-American addiction to outsourcing our members’ work.”
“The Teamsters applaud any elected official — Republican, Democrat, Independent — who’s willing to fight for American workers. We look forward to continuing to work with the administration to build a trade agenda that benefits our members and workers throughout the American motion picture and TV industry. It’s time to create good film jobs here at home by bringing production back to America,” they concluded.
What do you make of these reactions?
It's genuinely surreal to see a world leader prioritising his country and not global interests. If this does collapse the movie industry, then even better - there are plenty of great old movies and series which people should watch instead of modern woke slop.
That was a nice dodge attempt “we sell services”. Suuuure you do.