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US-China trade war
EconomyGlobal Economy

Will Trump’s film tariffs mean lights, camera, inaction for the world’s studios?

While it is unclear how film tariffs would be enforced, suggestion of new duties on non-US productions has put industry in panic mode

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US President Donald Trump has proposed a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside the country, a move that has prompted confusion and alarm in the entertainment industry. Photo: Reuters
Xiaofei Xuin Paris

It has been months since Serbian make-up artist Jovana Vukosavljevic was last on set for a US film.

Once a favoured shooting location for studios looking to keep costs low, projects have all but evaporated in the Balkan country since mass protests broke out late last year.

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Then Donald Trump arrived. The outlook deteriorated further after the US president's “Liberation Day” tariff package in April took aim at nearly all Washington’s trading partners – and especially on Sunday, when he floated the idea of imposing 100 per cent tariffs on foreign-produced films.

“It’s a nightmare. How can you shoot Emily in Paris in Texas?” Vukosavljevic said. “It’s already a bad situation. It will get much worse.”

With or without an additional tax on the film industry, Trump’s trade policy is already having an effect. A major French production company lost funding from a Chinese partner for an American project after the sweeping tariff announcement on April 2, a source at the company told the Post.

As part of its response to the tariff blitz, Beijing said on April 10 it would reduce the number of American films shown in the country as the trade war would “further diminish the Chinese audience’s perception of American films.”
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Not long after, the French company learned its Chinese distributor had chosen not to purchase the rights for the project, which the source said had led to financing issues.

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