The cinema industry is reeling after US President Donald Trump announced 100-percent tariffs on foreign films, casting uncertainty over the future of international productions.
Trump announced on Sunday he was directing relevant government agencies 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”.
He slammed other countries’ “incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” calling that a “national security threat” and “propaganda”.
In his post, on his Truth Social network, he added in capital letters: “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
At the start of this year, Trump appointed veteran Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight to bring Tinseltown back “bigger, better and stronger than ever before”.
Details on the film tariffs are still unclear but have still sent jitters and fuelled uncertainty.
The dilemma for producers and distributers is: do they no longer show a film made elsewhere in the United States, or do they make movies entirely in America to escape tariffs.
“It sounds potentially disastrous for the international film industry,” a British agent told the specialist website Screen Daily, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Cox’s Bazar Life Desk/BSS
