On a newsy Sunday evening, President Donald Trump declared that he is authorizing a 100% tariff on movies produced in foreign countries.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. 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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! 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,” he added. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Trump flew on Air Force One from Florida back to Washington, D.C., with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others on Sunday evening, according to the White House press pool.
On X, Lutnick responded to Trump’s directive, saying, “We’re on it.”
The Hollywood Reporter reported a number of expensive movies are being shot across the globe, including “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” and noted it was unclear if they would be impacted.
A little more than 100 days into his second term, Trump has unveiled a number of levies on foreign imports, most notably the “Liberation Day” tariffs last month which imposed a 10% rate on imports from many nations, with higher rates in some cases. Trump granted a 90-day pause, keeping only the base rate for most countries, but escalated China’s tariffs to 145% after Beijing’s retaliatory measures.
Trump answered questions from reporters during the flight back to the nation’s capital on Sunday. He noted there “could very well be” some trade deals announced this coming week.
While officials in the Trump administration have been working to negotiate deals to remedy what they say are grievous trade imbalances and other issues, Democrats and a couple Republicans in Congress have tried to rein in Trump’s tariff authority amid concerns about the economic consequences and constitutional checks and balances, but to no avail.
Also on Sunday evening, Trump announced that he was directing the federal government to reopen the Alcatraz prison.
