Although entertainment affairs are still struggling with President Donald Trump's post suggesting that a price on films made abroad is in preparation, the White House said in a clarification statement on Monday that “no final decision on the prices of foreign films has been made”.
“Although no final decision on the prices of foreign films have been made, the administration explores all the options to deliver the directive of President Trump to protect the national and economic security of our country while making Hollywood Grand again,” said the spokesman for the White House Kush Desai The Hollywood Reporter.
The commentary suggests that any other clarity on the prices, what form they would take, how they would be implemented, etc. will probably take some time to be revealed. This also suggests that the White House could explore the legal avenues it has to continue them, given the complexities and uncertainties of the implementation of a price on what is equivalent to a service rather than physical good.
Trump announced the price on Sunday evening, writing that “the film industry in America dies from a very fast death” and that a 100% price could help solve this problem, by commanding the trade department and the US trade representative to start exploring the options.
The news immediately reverberated in industry, with leaders, filmmakers and other stakeholders wondering what it meant for their business and how they would work. The announcement has urged more questions than it answered, with uncertainty to know if it would apply to television shows, streaming films, co-productions or films with production made in the United States and other pieces made abroad.
Trump has appointed three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood in actors and filmmakers Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson, and Voight had developed a plan to try to bring more production to the United States, although it was not clear if the prices were part of this plan.
Gibson, on the other hand, should start production on his follow -up of the passion of Christ later this summer in Italy, a film that could be submitted at a price, if they materialize.
The White House feared that cinematographic and television productions were increasingly turned abroad to enjoy a less well-paid workforce as well as large local tax credits. While many American states have also offered tax credits, some of the options abroad have become too attractive for American studios to ignore.
