Trump threatens 100% tariff on foreign-made motion pictures, calls Hollywood crisis a ‘nationwide security risk’

Donald Trump has declared that the United States will slap a 100% tariff on all foreign-made movies, accusing different international locations of undermining Hollywood and utilizing cinema as a propaganda instrument. The dramatic announcement got here through a put up on Truth Social, by which the US President described the state of the American film business in stark phrases.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump posted. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
“Therefore, I am authorising the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” he wrote. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

The transfer provides one other layer to Trump’s chaotic commerce insurance policies, which have already despatched shockwaves by way of the worldwide financial system. Since returning to workplace, he has positioned tariffs on a huge vary of imported items, together with a large 145% levy on merchandise from China. In retaliation, China slapped a 125% tariff on American exports, fuelling a commerce conflict that’s disrupted international provide chains and raised fears of a recession.
US financial knowledge launched final week confirmed a 0.3% contraction in GDP within the first quarter of 2025, with imports and client spending sharply down. Meanwhile, ocean container bookings from China have plummeted by 60%, main transport corporations to cancel as much as a quarter of sailings. At the Port of Los Angeles, arrivals are anticipated to fall by 35% as companies halt orders amid tariff uncertainty.
Economists blame Trump’s erratic commerce ways for the rising instability. “All of it,” mentioned Boston College economist Brian Bethune when requested how a lot of the downturn may very well be traced to Trump’s insurance policies.
Despite claiming he’s negotiating “privileged” offers with international locations like Switzerland, South Korea and Japan, overseas leaders complain of confusion and lack of communication. “There’s not a coherent strategy,” mentioned Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council. “They don’t understand completely what the White House wants, nor who they should be negotiating with.”