Donald Trump just announced a remarkably audacious plan to save the nascent American film industry. He thinks that the industry is going down faster than that. Second, on that same call, Trump announced Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone, among others, to his own panel of advisors. He named them as “special ambassadors” to Tinseltown. He’s doing this for a reason, as part of his broader strategy. He aims to address what he terms a crisis for the U.S. movie business.
Trump articulated his concern for the industry, stating, “The movie industry in America is DYING a very fast death.” He emphasized that foreign countries are competing fiercely to lure filmmakers and studios to film outside the U.S. They are accomplishing this through the deployment of powerful financial incentives. “They have been throwing every kind of incentive under the sun to lure folks,” he said. He argues that these practices represent the most serious existential threat to American jobs and culture.
In an effort to reverse this trend, Trump revealed that he would impose a 100% import tariff on any film made outside the US. He directed the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to impose the new tariff. He thinks this action will lead consumers to vote for American-made films. He stated, “If filmmakers are not willing to make a movie in the United States, there should be a tariff on movies that come in.”
Set against this positive news is the stark reality of many obstacles that have hampered the U.S. film industry in the past few years. Production was deeply disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 created additional havoc. The wildfires that have razed vast swathes of the Los Angeles area this fall interrupted production schedules even further. Consequently, production plummeted 26% last year from 2021.
Trump’s worries are not only economic. He called the whole thing a “very concerted effort from other countries,” which in turn he thinks is causing a national security crisis. In it, he expressed alarm at film production relocating abroad. This change, he argues, is not just about money, but about communication and narrative-building.
In recent years, many filmmakers have opted for locations outside California due to attractive incentive programs offered by other states and countries. Cities like Toronto and Vancouver, as well as many places in Central Europe and Australia have become favored locations for production. At the same time, California’s fortunes have fallen and it now ranks sixth. Georgia is seventh, New Jersey is eighth, and New York is ninth.
American-produced films still account for the vast majority of films exhibited in the domestic box office, notwithstanding these barriers to entry. For the calendar year 2023, the U.S. film and entertainment industry saw $22.6 billion in exports and a $15.3 billion trade surplus. This determination further highlights the imperative of staying competitive and on the cutting edge in a rapidly changing global marketplace.
The tariffs Trump has proposed would represent an extreme shift in policy. An impending change in federal regulations may dramatically change how films are produced and made available throughout the U.S. By home-growing local laws to target foreign productions, he hopes to protect jobs in the local film industry and strengthen local productions.
Leave a Reply