Trump threatens to slap 100% tariffs on movies made abroad

The sword of Damocles hanging for several months over the global film industry located outside the US appears to have fallen: US president Donald Trump announced on Monday that he wants to impose a 100% tax on films made abroad.

"Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing 'candy from a baby.' California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit!” Trump wrote on his social media Truth Social, adding: “Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT.”

In May 2024, Trump authorised the US Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff on all movies not produced in the US.

Representatives of the EU film industry who spoke to Euronews feared at the time that they might be overlooked by the EU in its trade negotiations with the US.

Since then, a trade agreement concluded in July made no mention of the film industry - a service sector not covered by blanket tariffs of 15% that were slapped on all US-bound EU goods.

The EU film industry faces criticism from major American streaming platforms which claim EU rules are too protective of the interests of the European industry.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents US film, television, and streaming industries, has its sights set on the EU legislation imposing quotas requiring video on demand services operating in the EU to reserve 30% of their catalogue for European work and obligations to invest in European works made by EU member states. They had written to the Trump administration in March 2024 to defend their cause.

In 2023, 4.8 million European movies were screened in the US, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The European Commission has been approached for comment.