Trump Wants a 100% Tariff on Foreign-Made Movies, Says U.S. Film Industry Is Dying

In a surprising move, former President Donald Trump said he wants to put a 100% tariff on all movies made outside the United States. He believes this will help save the American movie industry, which he says is in big trouble.

Trump posted about the plan on his Truth Social account on Sunday. He said he told the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to start working on the new rule.

“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”

He added, “Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

For many years, Hollywood has filmed big movies in places like the U.K., Australia, Ireland, and Spain. These countries offer tax breaks to movie studios, which can save them a lot of money.

Trump also spoke to C-SPAN on Sunday and gave more details. He blamed foreign countries and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, for hurting the U.S. film business.

“What they’ve done is other nations have been stealing the movies, the moviemaking capabilities from the United States,” he said. “I’ve done some very strong research over the past week and we’re making very few movies now. Hollywood is being destroyed. Now, you have a … grossly incompetent governor that allowed that to happen, so I’m not just blaming other nations, but other nations have stolen our movie industry.”

He added, “If they’re not willing to make a movie inside the United States, then we should have a tariff on movies that come in. And not only that, governments are actually giving big money. They’re supporting them financially. That’s sort of a threat to our country in a sense.”

When asked for a comment, someone from Governor Newsom’s office replied: “Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C.”

Movie industry leaders say this plan could hurt both movies and TV shows. One executive said, “Vancouver is over,” referring to the Canadian city where many shows and movies are filmed.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has not made a statement yet.

Many upcoming blockbuster films were shot outside the U.S. It’s not clear if those movies will get a break or if the new tariffs will apply to them, too.

• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (May 23) filmed in many countries.
• Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff (June 6), was filmed in the Czech Republic.
• Avatar: Fire and Ash (Dec. 19) was made in New Zealand.
• Avengers: Doomsday (May 1, 2026) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026) are filming in London.
• Star Wars: Starfighter (May 28, 2027) is also expected to shoot in the U.K.
• Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (June 26, 2026) is being made in London too.

Many smaller movies are also filmed in places like Romania and Bulgaria to save money.

Last month, Trump also said he wants to add at least 10% tariffs on products from all countries that trade with the U.S. That announcement made the stock market drop. A week later, he said he would delay most of the tariffs for 90 days—except the ones on China. Since then, the market has gone back up.

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