On May 4th local time, US President Trump announced a piece of news that shocked Hollywood. He issued a statement on his personal social media platform, saying that he had authorized the US Department of Commerce and the Trade Representative to immediately initiate a tariff policy: to impose a "100% tariff" on all films shot and produced outside the United States.
"The American film industry is rapidly dying. Other countries are offering various incentives to try to poach our filmmakers and production companies from the United States. Hollywood and many other parts of the United States are suffering. This is a coordinated action by other countries, a national security threat, and an information war and propaganda war! Therefore, I authorize the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to immediately impose a 100% tariff on all films produced abroad that are to be shown in our country. We want to make movies made in the United States again!" Trump wrote.
Trump released the statement on his personal social media platform.
This policy is mainly aimed at the increasing number of Hollywood films shot or post-produced in countries outside the United States. Since the millennium, many countries in Europe and Oceania have increased their support for the entertainment industry and provided favorable tax policies for Hollywood blockbusters shot locally; in order to reduce costs, Hollywood studios are willing to go to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain and other places to shoot and produce films. On the other hand, the labor costs and prices in Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria are much lower than those in the United States, which also attracts a large number of Hollywood crews with medium and low production scales and dedicated to streaming media.
In an interview on May 4, Trump blamed the decline of the domestic film industry on California Governor Gavin Newsom and these countries that offer tax incentives: "In-depth research over the past week shows that we are now making very few movies. Hollywood is being destroyed. This is not only the responsibility of other countries, but also because an extremely incompetent governor condoned this. These countries stole our film industry, and if producers don’t want to shoot in the United States, we should tax these films. What’s more, foreign governments are still providing huge financial support, which is also a threat to our country to some extent."
As we all know, the American entertainment industry is the Democratic Party's stronghold. When Trump, a Republican, was elected president, he naturally did not forget to "take care" of Hollywood, which has always been his opponent. In January this year, he appointed Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight and Mel Gibson as so-called "Hollywood ambassadors."
For a long time, North America, led by the United States, has been the world's largest film market, with annual box office revenue accounting for about 25%-30% of the global box office. Naturally, the source of the box office revenue is almost all Hollywood films. This new tax policy will undoubtedly increase the production costs of Hollywood films, and as time goes by, it will further affect the supply of new films in theaters. According to Xinhua News Agency , Hollywood industry media believes that the practice of imposing tariffs on foreign-made films may have a major impact on the US entertainment industry; some experts pointed out that imposing tariffs on foreign-made films "has far more disadvantages than advantages", and the argument that foreign-made films pose a "national security threat" is also difficult to convince people.
"Mission: Impossible - Reckoning," which will be released on May 23, should be able to escape this disaster.
At present, there are numerous Hollywood blockbusters that have been filmed overseas, have not yet been released, or are being filmed overseas. Given the generous tax rebate policy provided by the British government, the UK has now become the only choice for Hollywood blockbusters to shoot overseas. Among them, "Mission: Impossible 8: Final Reckoning", which will be released on May 23, should be able to escape the disaster; while "Jurassic World: Resurgence", scheduled to be released on July 2, and "Fantastic 4: The First Look", scheduled to be released on July 25, may not be so lucky.
"Spider-Man: A Brand New Day," which is scheduled to be released on July 31 next year, is scheduled to start shooting in the UK this year.
In addition, Disney's Marvel movie "Avengers 5", scheduled to be released on May 1 next year, is being filmed in London; "Spider-Man: A Brand New Day", scheduled to be released on July 31 next year, and "Star Wars: Starfighter", scheduled to be released on May 28, 2027, are scheduled to start shooting locally this year. Warner Bros.' DC superhero movie "Supergirl: Girl of Tomorrow" is also being filmed in London and is scheduled to be released on June 26 next year.
Avatar: Fire and Embers was filmed entirely in New Zealand.
Christopher Nolan's new film "The Odyssey" is currently filming in Greece.
Outside the UK, "Avatar: Fire and Embers", which is scheduled to be released on December 19, was filmed entirely in New Zealand; Christopher Nolan's new film "Odyssey" is being filmed in Greece; Denis Villeneuve's next "Dune: Redemption" is scheduled to start shooting in Hungary in June.
