On Sunday night, President Donald Trump announced his latest tariff target: cinema. Trump’s fast-and-loose approach to trade war has already has caused ripple effects in everything from handheld gaming to the board game industry, but his latest proclamation is the most direct attempt to put a finger on entertainment.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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 authorizing 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. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
It’s not totally clear what a 100% tariff on imported movies — or movies that are even produced partially in other countries — means in a practical sense, nor how the president would implement such a sweeping directive. But one could imagine major implications based on how Hollywood currently operates, as studios rely on financial incentives from around the world to fuel major productions and regularly import international films to buoy the release calendar.
Polygon has reached out to the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department for clarification, but representatives for the office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Hollywood production has been of particular interest to the president since he took office for his second term. In January, Trump named actors Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone, and Mel Gibson as “special ambassadors” to Hollywood in order to crack what was apparently wrong with the business. According to Deadline, Voight has taken the title seriously, and recently met with studios and artistic guilds to better understand the issues plaguing production. The potential of a national incentive to bring more production back to the U.S. is a rare bipartisan issue in the industry, at least on the surface; since the wildfires that swept the Los Angeles area in early 2025, many in the film business have rallied the California and national government to incentive studios to shoot local.
But Trump’s “100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country” immediately provoked concern from across the industry, which relies on the international scene to fuel production, post-production, and sales. As one producer put it, what does the tariff mean for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, where hundreds of projects will seek international funds and deals for global distribution? It’s all a big unknown.
Polygon has reached out to Crunchyroll and GKIDS for comment.
