In an escalation of Donald Trump’s so-called Tariff Wars, the US president has announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside of the US.
Announcing the move on his Truth Social media platform, Trump said the tariffs would be levied on all films ‘produced in Foreign Lands’ before stating that work was already underway to make the tariffs a reality.
In the post, he wrote: ‘This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!’, adding in characteristic all-caps: ‘We WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!’
No information has been forthcoming on how the tariffs will be implemented, although the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick replied to Trump’s message on X with: ‘We’re on it.’
As reported in Guardian Australia, Australian and New Zealand politicians have been quick to state they will advocate for their national film industries in the wake of the announcement, with Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke saying in a media statement: ‘Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry.’
Film and TV production has fallen sharply in Los Angeles over the last decade as governments around the world – including in Australia – have offered generous credits and rebates for Hollywood productions to film overseas.
The Australian Government’s Location Incentive is billed as a ‘merit-assessed grant program where funding of up to 13.5% of a project ’s Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure may be offered to successful applicants. This grant works alongside the Location Offset (at 16.5%) to effectively increase the tax rebate to 30% to make Australia a globally competitive destination for international productions.’
The government has committed more than $540 million since 2019 in tax incentives to attract international productions such as Godzilla vs Kong (2021), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and The Fall Guy (2024).
Other major Hollywood titles to film in Australia over the past decade or so include Wolverine (2013), San Andreas (2015), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), while films such as The Mongoose, starring Liam Neeson, are currently in production in Victoria.
State-of-the-art film studios and facilities are currently being planned and built across Australia, including on the Gold Coast, Byron Bay and Melbourne.
New Zealand, among other international productions, is perhaps known best as the home of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The country’s prime minister Christopher Luxon told a news conference, following Trump’s announcement: ‘We’ll have to see the detail of what actually ultimately emerges. But we’ll obviously be a great advocate, great champion of that sector in that industry.’
As reported by ABC News, Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner has predicted the announcement ‘will send shock waves worldwide’.
‘For the Australian industry, it reinforces the need for the government to focus immediately and swiftly on building a resilient local industry that can withstand global shocks like this.’
The Australian academic Ben Eltham told the ABC: ‘If Hollywood studios – including Netflix – are going to be slapped with a big tariff for producing their content in Australia, then they might redirect that production back onshore.
‘If that pipeline dries up, that will definitely be bad for Australian production or for Australian crews [and] companies that are servicing the production sector here.’
At this stage, there are more ‘ifs’ than solid answers. As reported by Reuters, it’s not yet known whether the tariffs will be levied on films on streaming services or only in cinemas, or whether they will apply to production costs or revenue from the box office.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing and quickly escalating trade war between the US and China, which has already reduced the number of American films allowed into the country, with China the world’s second biggest film market after the US.
