US President says non-U.S. movies will be 100% taxed

U.S. President Donald Trump said he will play 100% tariffs for foreign-made movies, When he stepped up trade disputes with countries around the world.

Trump said he is authorizing the U.S. Trade Representative to start the process to impose taxes as the U.S. film industry is “death quickly.”

He accused other countries of “unified efforts”, who provided incentives to attract film producers and studios, which he described as “national security threats.”

“Apart from everything else, it's also messaging and publicity!” Trump said on his truth social platform. “We hope to make American movies again!”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded to the latest announcement saying “We’re on top.”

However, the details of this move are not yet clear. Trump's statement did not say whether the tariffs apply to American production companies that make movies abroad.

Several major films recently produced by Studios in the United States were shot outside the United States, including Deadpool & Wolverine, Wicked and Gladiator II.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed tariffs on countries around the world.

He believes tariffs will boost U.S. manufacturers and protect jobs – but the global economy is in chaos due to chaos, with prices of global goods expected to rise.

Before the inauguration, Trump appointed three movie stars – Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone – as special ambassadors responsible for promoting business opportunities in Hollywood, which he described as “a great but very troubled place.”

“They will be my special envoy to bring Hollywood to the past four years, back to foreign countries, back to Bigg, stronger than ever!” Trump wrote at the time.

Despite the challenges, the United States remains the leading film production center worldwide, according to film industry research firm Prodpro.

Its latest annual report shows that the country spent $14.54 billion (£10.94 billion) last year. This has dropped by 26% since 2022.

The report said countries that attracted increased spending during the same period include Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Even before the recent announcement, the U.S. film industry was affected by Trump's trade policy.

China said in April it was reducing its quota for American movies entering the country.

“The U.S. government's wrong actions against the abuse of Chinese tariffs will inevitably further reduce the cuteness of domestic audiences towards American films,” the China Film Administration said.

“We will abide by market rules, respect audience choices, and moderately reduce the number of imported American films.”

Trump attacked China for tariffs on his Salvo, from which he imposed an import tax of up to 145%.

His administration said last month that when new tariffs are added to existing tariffs, some Chinese goods could be imposed at 245%.

Beijing's import tax on goods to the United States is 125%.

Currently, other countries face U.S. tariff rates at 10% until the higher taxes expire in July.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he was meeting with many countries, including China, to trade agreements.

However, he added that despite previous reports that Washington is approaching Beijing’s report on trade talks, he has no plans to talk to his Chinese rival, XI Jining.

When asked if any trade deals will be announced this week, Trump said it might be “good” but provided no details.

Earlier, Trump said he might be willing to lower tariffs on China.

“At some point, I'm going to lower them because otherwise, you can never do business with them, they want to do business a lot,” he said in an interview that aired on NBC's media on Sunday.

In the same interview, Trump said he could extend the deadline for selling U.S. Tiktok business for a Chinese-based beast.

He has given two criticisms from a law that threatens to ban the short video app from being sold to non-Chinese companies.

Currently, Bytedance must reach an agreement on ownership of the platform until June 19, which has been used by 170 million Americans.

Negotiations for a potential agreement have stalled since Trump imposed huge new tariffs on China.