Trade War: Donald Trump Announces 100% Tariffs on Foreign-Produced Films

This is the first phase of the investigation before the possible adoption of a decree. "The American film industry is dying very quickly (...) Hollywood and many other regions of the United States are devastated," the American president justified himself.

Donald Trump is opening a new front in his trade war. The American president announced on Sunday, May 4 , that he would "immediately begin the process of imposing 100% tariffs" on films released in the United States but produced abroad. "The American film industry is dying very quickly (...) Hollywood and many other parts of the United States are devastated," Mr. Trump explained on his Truth Social network.

"Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to lure our filmmakers and studios away from the United States," he said. He called it a "concerted effort by other nations" that poses a "national security threat." Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has launched several investigations into the "national security effects" of various imports, ranging from semiconductors to crucial minerals.

This investigation is a necessary first step that could allow the American president to issue an executive order imposing tariffs on these products if it is demonstrated that their import volume poses a risk to national security. No details have yet been given on the conditions for applying surcharges on films produced abroad. This represents a new escalation in the trade offensive launched by the American president against the United States' economic partners.

China, against which Donald Trump focuses a large part of his fire , announced at the beginning of April that it would reduce, "moderately" , the number of American films officially distributed on its territory, one of its responses to the prohibitive customs duties imposed by the United States on its products. Beijing limits, through a system of quotas, the number of foreign films officially distributed in its cinemas. A reduction in access to this market, the second largest in the world behind the United States for cinema, could reduce the revenues of Hollywood studios.