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re: Trump imposes 100% tariff on movies made outside of the United States

Posted on 9/29/25 at 7:24 pm to
Posted by nealnan8
Atlanta
Member since Oct 2016
4018 posts
Posted on 9/29/25 at 7:24 pm to
I don't even know what this means. So a foreign made movie can't be viewed in the US unless there is a tariff imposed on it? And what determines if it is foreign? Where it's made? The production company? The director's nationality? So New Zealand's Peter Jackson's Wing Nut films produced the Lord Of The Rings movies. I guess this would carry a tariff, then.
Posted by CR4090
Member since Apr 2023
8275 posts
Posted on 9/29/25 at 8:34 pm to
Posted by bcoop199
Kansas City, MISSOURI
Member since Nov 2013
8934 posts
Posted on 9/29/25 at 10:59 pm to
If a movie is set in a different country I don't have a problem of it being filmed there. However let's not be naive, even movies set in the USA are being filmed outside the USA and I'm glad this will stop it. It will be funny to see all the Dems that want those jobs in the USA pretend to hate this EO. I bet a lot of them will come out against it but silently be happy about it.
Posted by Jay Are
Baton Rouge
Member since Nov 2014
5874 posts
Posted on 9/29/25 at 11:48 pm to
I think most "Dems" are going to be against it because it is a concept that doesn't make any sense. A movie filmed in Hungary is not then imported into the United States on a freighter.

And there are already proposals for a federal tax incentive to keep production in the states that would keep jobs here, but the president will likely ignore that because he really likes the word Tariff.
Posted by WheyCheddar
Member since Aug 2024
1218 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 5:18 am to
He is certainly embarrassing. He has no answers other than stupid shite like this to please his ignorant fan base. Who in their right mind would, looking at the problems facing this country, thinks , “yeah, taxing foreign films. Now we’re going somewhere”?
Posted by Corinthians420
Iowa
Member since Jun 2022
16104 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 5:25 am to
quote:

even movies set in the USA are being filmed outside the USA and I'm glad this will stop it



This won't stop anything. If they manage to implement it it will just be another tax on US citizens.
Posted by SCLSUMuddogs
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2010
8165 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 8:08 am to
OK, but how would you even impose a tariff on a movie? It's not like they're being sent over on ships. You can email a movie to someone.

and if you were to figure a way to do this, would this go for international films as well? Who would be fitting the bill for these international movies, the studios who distribute them? Wouldn't that just lead to either A. Price hikes from the distributor to local movie theaters, which would increase ticket prices further for you and me, or B. Distributors deciding to buy less foreign films in general, which means we'd have to either somehow pirate them, or just not see them?

Posted by RLDSC FAN
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Member since Nov 2008
58962 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 8:10 am to
Some folks will believe anything he tells them.
Posted by BluegrassBelle
RIP Hefty Lefty - 1981-2019
Member since Nov 2010
106322 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 8:23 am to
I just want one person in this thread in favor of this to genuinely explain how it will work. And how this will remotely benefit the film industry as a whole.

I see a lot of “Well this will force production back into the US”. Ok? How?
Posted by iwyLSUiwy
I'm your huckleberry
Member since Apr 2008
40826 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 8:38 am to
quote:

If a movie is set in a different country I don't have a problem of it being filmed there. However let's not be naive, even movies set in the USA are being filmed outside the USA and I'm glad this will stop it.


You don't have a problem with other countries making movies, wow, that's super cool of you to be ok with that. So we can make movies in the US that are depicting a different country but it's not allowed for other countries to do. It must be stopped! This is a huge problem right? Tax dollars at work for the important things.
This post was edited on 9/30/25 at 8:43 am
Posted by BluegrassBelle
RIP Hefty Lefty - 1981-2019
Member since Nov 2010
106322 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 9:02 am to
I’m still aggrieved that Hollywood made Harlan, Kentucky look like arid arse Southern California in Justified. I’ll never forgive them.
Posted by ATrillionaire
Houston
Member since Sep 2008
2405 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 9:06 am to
quote:

State incentives are not enough to overcome 1) labor is cheaper internationally 2) the dollar buys more internationally 3) international incentives are very lucrative.

I budgeted the same movie for Vancouver, New Orleans, New Jersey, and Atlanta last week. Net of incentives Canada is literally half the cost as the domestic options.

And this policy doesn’t make it cheaper to produce at home. It just makes it as expensive to produce abroad. He wants your profit.
Posted by Hermit Crab
Under the Sea
Member since Nov 2008
7390 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 9:25 am to
quote:




James Bond will now be based out of Trump Tower in New York.


With the evil villain OrangeFinger?
Posted by Fewer Kilometers
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2007
37947 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 9:54 am to
quote:

With the evil villain OrangeFinger?
And "Grab Them By The Pussy Galore."
Posted by BlackAdam
Member since Jan 2016
7052 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 10:06 am to
quote:

And this policy doesn’t make it cheaper to produce at home. It just makes it as expensive to produce abroad. He wants your profit.


Correct. This is not a real solution, and it actually exacerbates the problem. Production outsourced for many of the same reasons manufacturing did. Making international production more expensive empowers the unions to make even more insane demands.
Posted by DoomGuy504
Member since May 2024
342 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 1:27 pm to
quote:

I just want one person in this thread in favor of this to genuinely explain how it will work. And how this will remotely benefit the film industry as a whole.

I see a lot of “Well this will force production back into the US”. Ok? How?


That's not going to happen because the person making this decision doesn't even know. Starts from the top.
Posted by PuertoRicanBlaze
Book Board Admin
Member since Apr 2024
7099 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 1:28 pm to
quote:

Cool. You going to address how to tariff a service? How much needs to be planned, filmed, and edited in the US vs another country to be considered a domestically-made film? In what phase of production he tariff is paid, since there is no physically delivered product for this to make sense? Even just WTF 100% means in this case? 100% of what?


The US already regulates and taxes digital services (streaming taxes, music royalties, app-store purchases, etc) so a tariff on foreign film imports would just be an extension of that.

You dont need a crate of DVDs to levy a service. The "import" is the license to distribute a foreign-made film in the US, whether it's a theatrical print, digital DCP file or a streaming master. Studios or distributors pay the tariff when they purchase US exhibition or streaming rights.

Just like auto or textile rules of origin, the government can set a percentage, say 50%of production budget or post production spend must be in the US to qualify as domestic. If a film doesn't meet that threshold, it's treated as foreign for tariff purposes.

The tariff is assessed when the distribution license is registered with the MPAA or filed for US theatrical release/streaming. Studios already file financial disclosures and release applications so Customs or the IRS would have a clear transaction to tax.

100% taridf simply means a 100% duty on the declared value of the distribution license. If a studio pays $10million for US rights to a foreign film, they owe an additional $10 million in tariff.

Its "new" but no more complicated than existing mechanisms for taxing digital goods, luxury items or foreign TV content. The goal is to keep production jobs and post-production work in the US and a tariff structured around licensing fees gives Washington a concrete lever to encourage that.

Multipl3 productions have already packed up and moved to Europe/Asia and with them went thousands of American crew jobs. Entire soundstages are collecting dust.. There are industry veterans in Atlanta who haven't had a single paycheck since Superman wrapped last year. Work has been feast or famine for me but for most, it's been all famine. I've worked three tier 1 projects this year, which is more than I've worked in my entire career and tier 1 sets are half the pay and triple the work.

People can debate the mechanics of tariffs all day, but the hard truth is doing nothing is the surest way to keep bleeding jobs and just standing by while studios chase cheap labor and avoid strict IATSE regulations overseas is the real disaster. At some point you either fight to keep the work here or you accept watching yet another watching an entire American industry wither away.
This post was edited on 9/30/25 at 2:44 pm
Posted by PuertoRicanBlaze
Book Board Admin
Member since Apr 2024
7099 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 1:54 pm to
quote:

I just want one person in this thread in favor of this to genuinely explain how it will work. And how this will remotely benefit the film industry as a whole.

I see a lot of “Well this will force production back into the US”. Ok? How?



It's actually pretty straightforward and it's obvious people here don't have the slightest clue how the film industry operates which is understandable.

It's really not that complicated if you look at how other industries handle this. The "iimport" isn't a DVD or a hard drive, it's the distribution license for a finished film. Studios already pay for the right to exhibit or stream a movie in the US and those transactions are tracked and taxed. A tariff would simply add a duty to that licensing fee if the film doesn't meet a US content threshold (ex: at least 50% of production/post-production spend inside the country).

How does that help? Because it changes the math for the studios. Right now they save money by shooting overseas and then selling US rights with ZERO penalty. If the rights suddenly cost, say 25%to100% more when the work is done abroad, the "savings" disappear. At that point it's cheape or at least competitive to keep more of the production, post and crew jobs here.

Will every single film rush back overnight? No. But studios are highly cost sensitive. When the US is the world's biggest market and you make it more expensive to import foreign-made content some of that budget inevitably shifts back to domestic crews, soundstages and post houses that are collecting dust right now. Thats the whole point... tilt the incentives so American workers aren't competing with foreign subsidies and rock bottom labor costs on an uneven playing field.

It may not be thr perfect solution but like I said in another comment, at some point you either have to fight to keep the work here or you sit back and watch yet another American industry collapse. I've been in the industry for nearly ten years and this is brutal. Youve got ADs, script sups, dept heads who used to make a solid six-figures waiting tables or picking up people from the airport just to keep the lights on. I know a guy who lost his home this year. These are not lazy people either, they're seasoned professionals with being ground into the dirt because their trade is gone and it's hard to find a job making even close to the same amount.

Crew members are the unsung heroes of every movie and show you watch. The director and actors get all the headlines and credit but it's the crew who does all the heavy lifting, busting our asses working 16 hour days with little sleep and a measly 30 minute lunch to make the 90 minutes of entertainment even possible for you. And right now, those same people are the ones paying the price while studios chase the cheap labor overseas... and actors/directors are immune.

Doing nothing is a death sentence for an industry that employs tens of thousands of ordinary Americans.
Posted by 1999
Where I be
Member since Oct 2009
33161 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 4:26 pm to
quote:


How does that work?


i don't think anyone knows
Posted by ATrillionaire
Houston
Member since Sep 2008
2405 posts
Posted on 9/30/25 at 6:00 pm to
quote:

Crew members are the unsung heroes of every movie and show you watch. The director and actors get all the headlines and credit but it's the crew who does all the heavy lifting, busting our asses working 16 hour days with little sleep and a measly 30 minute lunch to make the 90 minutes of entertainment even possible for you.

Compensation is never determined by how hard someone works. Replaceability is the scale. Fry cooks work hard.
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