President Trump announced his intention to target films made abroad with 100% prices because he said Hollywood “died a very fast death”.
In an article on his Truth social platform, Trump said that the incentives offered to American filmmakers and studios by other countries, including the United Kingdom, was a threat to national security.
“It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”, He added. “Consequently, I authorize the Ministry of Commerce and the US trade representative immediately starting the institute process a price of 100% on all the films that enter our country which are produced at foreign land. We want films made in America, again! ”
President Trump speaking on the southern lawn of the White House on Sunday
Alex Wroblewski / AFP
Howard Lungick, the American secretary of trade, replied on X: “We are there”. We still do not know how the prices would be imposed or if they would apply to television series, films transported on streaming services – such as Netflix – and films broadcast in cinemas.
Hollywood was responsible for the creation of more than 2.3 million jobs and 279 billion sales in 2022, according to the latest data, but a recent survey of film leaders revealed that they preferred filming places in Canada, Great Britain and Europe in California.
Some of the most profitable films of last year were shot in the United Kingdom, in particular Wicked And Deadpool and Wolverine. The successful film 2023 Barbie was also partially shot in the Warner Bros studios in Beftden, Hertfordshire.
The American president said that the United States had made “very few films” due to projects filmed in other countries
Andrew Harnik / Getty images
The prices could upset the plans to shoot several films to come in the United Kingdom Spider Man: brand new day And Star Wars: Starfighter, With Ryan Gosling.
The main recent productions filmed outside the United States include Gladiator IIwhich was shot in Morocco and Malta, Mission: Impossible – The last calculationwith locations all over the world, and Disney Avatar: fire and ashMade in New Zealand.
Filmla, a non -profit organization, estimated that cinematographic and television production in the city has dropped almost 40% in the last decade.
British film industry experienced major growth during the same period, with total spending on film production, reaching 1.97 billion pounds sterling in 2022.
In January, Trump appointed actors Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as a special ambassadors responsible for “bringing Hollywood, who has lost a lot of business in the past four years to foreign countries, back – larger, better and stronger than ever!”
The American director Norman Taurog on the set of the beginning or the end, filmed in 1947 during the golden age of Hollywood
R. Gates / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
His film rate announcement comes after China's decision last month to reduce the number of American films he imported, and Trump's decision to impose a basic rate of 10% “reciprocal” on all imports and a 145% tax on Chinese products.
In an interview with C-SPAN on Sunday, Trump blamed Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, for having allowed other countries to “steal” films in the United States. “I did very solid research in last week, and we are doing very few films now,” he said.
“Hollywood is in the process of destroying. Now you have an extremely incompetent governor who has made it possible for this to happen, so I don't only blame other nations, but other nations have stolen our film industry. If they are not willing to make a film in the United States, then we should have a price on the films that enter.”
Managers in Australia and New Zealand have promised to defend their industries on the screen against the prices offered. Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, said: “We will have to see the details of what is ultimately emerging. But we will obviously be a big defender, a big champion of this sector and this industry. ”
William Reinsch, who sat in the American trade department during the Clinton administration, said the reprisals by affected countries “kill” the American film industry. “We have much more to lose than winning,” he said.
