Trump says he’ll slap a 100% tariff on films made outside the U.S. Obviously it’s political theater, but if this actually happens, what’s the real impact for studios, streamers, and global production? Is there any version of this that doesn’t blow up the industry?
— VP, Strategy, Global Studio Operations
Hollywood doesn’t make movies in L.A. anymore because it can’t afford to, not because Hungary has better coffee. I mean, I can get down with some Lángos, but this isn’t about pastries. Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on foreign-made films isn’t about economics. It’s about symbolism. But if he follows through, it’s not just bad policy. It’s a bomb lobbed into a business already on fire.
Let’s start with the basics. Nobody in government knows how to tax a movie. It’s not a car. It’s not steel. It’s a digital service, made globally, sliced and diced into rights windows, and streamed by someone in Kansas off a server in Virginia. There’s no SKU. No customs slip. Just a bunch of credits at the end of a Netflix special.
So unless Trump plans to station ICE agents at Cannes, the logistics of this are laughable.
But the threat of the tariff matters. Because it surfaces a real tension that’s been building in Hollywood for two decades. The U.S. production model is broken. The labor rules are rigid. The costs are insane. The unions are running on 1997 assumptions. So studios went to Canada, the U.K., Australia, Hungary. Anywhere that would hand them a rebate and not charge $100 for a parking permit.
A Trump tariff would slam that entire system. Suddenly, shooting abroad isn’t a financial edge. It’s a liability. That doesn’t magically bring production back to California. It just screws over everyone already operating in the real world.
Netflix, for example, has leaned hard into Korean, German, and Latin American productions not just for cost, but for growth. Tariff those shows, and what—charge U.S. subscribers more? Geoblock the content? Raise prices for foreign IP? That’s not economic patriotism. That’s a self-own.
It also puts pressure on Hollywood’s own right-wing rebels. Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire shot “The Pendragon Cycle” in Hungary. If this tariff applies to his crew too, congratulations. You’ve turned your own supporters into collateral damage. Nobody wins when you make protectionism the business model.
Now, let’s zoom out. If you’re a studio exec, you should be less worried about how this tariff would be enforced and more worried about how slow your company has been to adapt. The threat of political interference should light a fire under everyone still pretending that “Made in America” is a virtue, not a line item.
If you want to bring production back, don’t wait for Congress. Build domestic infrastructure. Fight for a national incentive program. Cut the red tape. Create a better mousetrap. Otherwise, you’re one Truth Social post away from a global production crisis and the next time might not be a bluff.
Skip Says:
Trump’s movie tariff is unworkable, unserious, and still a threat.
Studios rely on global production because America priced itself out.
A tariff punishes streamers, indie producers, and even Trump’s allies.
Want to fix U.S. production? Build smarter. Don’t wait for D.C. to save you.
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