Jon Voight
Trump announced that he authorized the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative to begin the process to impose 100% tariffs on American films made in "Foreign Land", and Voight is supposedly responsible. Now, the actor has released a short video describing his intentions.
"I recently met with Donald J. Trump, President who loves entertainment business," Voight said in the video. "[He]wants to see Hollywood flourish, make movies bigger than ever, and see the work back to Hollywood in the United States. I fell in love with the Hollywood I fell in love with as a kid and was honored to contribute to my career. In the last few years, many Americans have suffered a lot in the past few years because they have lost their family. They have lost their family.
He continued: "After meeting with many entertainment leaders, I made some suggestions to the president for tax provisions that could help the industry. Some provisions that may be extended, while others may be restored or established. This will help film and television production and our beloved theaters are very important to the American family experience."
Voight further outlined his plans in a press release Monday sent by representatives of Voight and its business partner Steven Paul. It involves federal tax incentives, tax law changes, joint production treaties, and infrastructure subsidies for drama owners, production and post-production companies Hollywood Reporter.
It is worth noting that the press release only briefly mentions the tariffs, calling for "taxes under certain limited circumstances" rather than 100% of all foreign films announced by Trump. The program comes from a few months of meetings between Voight, his team and entertainment stakeholders, including studios, streamers and guilds. Voight and Paul confirmed they met with Trump in Mar-a-Lago over the weekend and said the White House was "reviewing" their suggestions.
Longtime Trump supporter Voight was named one of Trump's "special ambassadors" along with Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone. "These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will do their advice," Trump said at the time. "Just like the United States of America itself, the golden age of Hollywood will be again!"
The topics were responded to amid Trump’s announcement of a vague film tariff plan on Sunday. The president said he authorized 100% tariffs on films made in "foreign land" (also known as loss of control). Trump calls the works "national security threats" and claims they are causing the film industry to "very fast death."
"Other countries are offering various incentives to keep our film producers and studios away from the United States," Trump wrote in The Society of Truth.
Indeed, film work, especially in California, has dropped dramatically in recent years due to higher production and fewer incentives. Although many of the works have moved to other parts of the United States (such as Atlanta), they have also gone abroad due to lucrative incentives provided by countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada. However, many movies are also shot overseas for creative rather than economic reasons, and on the surface, these movies will also be hit by 100% implementation.