Trump's plan for movie tariffs leads to global confusion

The film and TV industry around the world is reeling from President Trump's announcement that he plans to impose a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S.

On his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, Trump declared that America's movie industry is "dying a very fast death," arguing that Hollywood is being "devastated" by other nations that draw filmmakers and studios away from the U.S. with incentives.

Many American films and TV shows are shot entirely or at least partially outside the U.S. The upcoming movie, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, was shot on a Norwegian archipelago, among many other locales.

Countries like Canada, the UK and Australia have long offered productions generous tax incentives, rebates, grants and new sound stages to work in. Trump gave no details about how the movie tariffs would work and who would pay them.

On Monday, he added that he plans to meet with members of the film industry.

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"I want to make sure they're happy with it, because we're all about jobs," the president said, saying that he didn't want to hurt the industry. "Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business. They have the nice sign and everything's good, but they don't do very much."

"We have so many questions," said Steven Jaworski, vice president of production with A&E Studios, which is headquartered in Los Angeles.

"Production in the United States, and specifically California, is at a massive decline," he shared. But, he said, it's too soon to have any clear sense of what a 100% tariff might mean for the industry – or how it would even work.

The Motion Picture Association, which represents Hollywood's major film and TV studios, has not responded to NPR's request for comment about the president's plan.

On Monday, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the union — which represents film and television actors and performers, along with media workers more broadly — looks forward to learning more.

"SAG-AFTRA supports efforts to increase movie, television and streaming production in the United States. We will continue to advocate for policies that strengthen our competitive position, accelerate economic growth and create good middle class jobs for American workers," Crabtree-Ireland said.

For nearly four months in 2023, actors in the union went on strike, bringing production in Hollywood to a standstill at the same time writers were striking, too. (Note: Some NPR News staffers are also members of SAG-AFTRA, but were not on strike, as they are under a different contract.)

The union IATSE, which represents behind-the-scenes craftspeople and technicians in the entertainment industry in the U.S. and Canada, shared their own statement emphasizing the "urgent threat from international competition."

"We await further information on the administration's proposed tariff plan, but we continue to stand firm in our conviction that any eventual trade policy must do no harm to our Canadian members — nor the industry overall," said the union's International President Matthew D. Loeb.

The CEO of Screen Producers Australia wrote that the news will send shockwaves worldwide. The head of BECTU, the UK's media and entertainment industry workers' union, says the tariffs would deal a "knock out blow" to the country's film and TV production industry.

President Trump told reporters outside Air Force One on Sunday that he also blames California Governor Gavin Newsom for allowing productions to leave the state. But Newsom's office said in a statement to NPR that the governor has been working to more than double the amount of tax incentives his state offers productions to shoot and film there. A spokesperson said the governor will review a more detailed tariff proposal if the president has one.

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