Donald Trump announces 100% tariff on non-US movies as film industry 'dying'

5 May 2025, 02:52 | Updated: 5 May 2025, 05:49

Donald Trump has said he will target films made outside of the US as part of his ongoing tariff war.

The US president said the country's movie industry was "dying a very fast death".

He complained that other countries were "offering all sorts of incentives to draw" filmmakers and film studios away from the United States.

In a post on his social media site Truth Social, he said this was a "concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a national security threat".

Mr Trump said he had authorised the Department for Commerce and the office of the US trade representative to put a 100% tariff "on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands".

It comes as the president made another policy announcement on social media on Sunday, announcing he would order the reopening of notorious prison Alcatraz.

It is unclear how the tariff would affect international productions, such as the upcoming Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, which is filmed in the US as well as other countries around the world.

Data from the Motion Picture Association shows American movies produced $22.6bn (£17bn) in exports and $15.3bn (£11.5bn) in surplus in 2023.

The latest tariff announcement from President Trump is part of a wider crackdown on US imports announced last month.

In a news conference outside the White House, he outlined a 10% baseline tariff on goods from other countries, with varying levies allocated - later increasing the tariff on Chinese goods to 145%.