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President Trump’s call for a 100% tariff on foreign-made films sent ripples through Wall Street on Monday.
The Dow initially dropped over 100 points before rebounding slightly, while other indexes slipped after a strong recent run. Shares of major film studios declined following Trump’s statement over the weekend, labeling foreign films a “national security threat” and tools of “messaging and propaganda.”
Netflix, Disney, Comcast, and Warner Bros. Discovery all dipped slightly at Monday’s open, as investors hoped for trade progress with China, Japan, and India. Instead, Trump announced new film industry tariffs, citing job losses from overseas productions.
Details on how the proposed film tariffs would be enforced remain unclear, as movies aren’t physical imports like goods in shipping containers. It’s uncertain whether the levies would target all films shot abroad or only those receiving foreign tax incentives from places like Canada, New Zealand, or the U.K.—a practice critics say has cost U.S. film crew jobs.
Donald Trump says he’s ordering a 100% tariff on all films produced outside of America that are brought into the country
Hollywood projects currently shooting overseas include:
• ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
• ‘The Odyssey’
• ‘Avatar 4’
• ‘Supergirl’ pic.twitter.com/4XzVdETCTo— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) May 5, 2025
Industry groups note that film production in Hollywood fell sharply from January to March 2025, with just 451 feature shoot days.
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