U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that his administration will impose a 100 percent tariff on films produced outside the United States, declaring the decline of the domestic movie industry a national security threat.
The decision, revealed on Trump’s Truth Social account, targets foreign governments that offer tax breaks and incentives to lure film productions away from American soil.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda,” Trump wrote. He said he had directed the Department of Commerce and other relevant agencies to begin implementing the tariffs immediately.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded on X with a brief post: “We’re on it.” No further information was provided on how the tariffs would be enforced or when they would take effect.
The announcement left Hollywood executives uncertain about the scope of the proposed tariffs. Questions remain about whether they would apply to both theatrical and streaming releases, and how the duties would be calculated, whether based on production costs, box office revenue, or distribution rights.
Industry leaders in Australia and New Zealand responded quickly, pledging support for their local film sectors, which have hosted several high-profile U.S. productions, including Marvel films and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Trump’s latest move is part of a broader campaign to reinvigorate American cultural industries during his second term in office.
Production in Hollywood has been in steady decline for over a decade. According to FilmLA, which monitors regional filming activity, film and television production in Los Angeles has dropped nearly 40 percent over the past ten years.
The trend accelerated in early 2025 after destructive wildfires disrupted many local productions and displaced workers across the industry.
A 2023 study by research firm ProdPro found that nearly half of all U.S. spending on projects with budgets over 40 million dollars took place abroad. California now ranks sixth among preferred filming locations, behind Toronto, Britain, Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia.
Producers and unions have continued to pressure Governor Gavin Newsom to expand California’s tax incentives to help reverse the exodus.
Trump, who returned to the White House in January 2025, made revitalizing U.S. film production a key cultural issue. In January, he appointed actors Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson to spearhead efforts to bring production back to America.
“WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” Trump wrote Sunday.
Former Commerce official William Reinsch, now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, warned the policy could backfire. “The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain,” he said, arguing that framing the issue as a national security matter would be difficult to defend and potentially damaging to U.S. soft power abroad.
