Washington, D.C. — U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on all foreign films, arguing that overseas competition is accelerating the decline of Hollywood.
In a statement shared on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, President Trump said he had instructed the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to begin immediate steps toward implementing the tariff on films produced outside the United States.
“Other countries are offering a wide range of incentives to lure our filmmakers and studios away from America. Hollywood, and many other parts of the U.S., are being devastated,” Trump wrote. He described the foreign competition as not only an economic issue but a “national security threat” involving messaging and propaganda.
The president did not clarify how the proposed tariff would apply to international co-productions or films partially made abroad.
Trump’s announcement follows his January appointment of actors Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight as “special ambassadors” for his campaign to revive domestic film production. At the time, he said the trio would be his “eyes and ears” in launching what he called a “Golden Age of Hollywood.”
The American film industry has been facing significant challenges in recent years, including the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged actors’ and writers’ strikes in 2023.
Speaking to reporters later on Sunday, President Trump said the United States was “producing very few movies now,” and accused other nations of “stealing our movie industry.” He added, “If they are not making films in the United States, we should be taxing the ones they send here.”