The White House said Monday that there was no “final decision” on planned tariffs for the Trump administration, as one expert welcomed potential actions as a respite for the American film industry.
“While there hasn’t been a final decision on foreign film tariffs, the administration is exploring all the options to implement President Trump’s direction to protect our country’s national and economic security while making Hollywood great again.”
President Donald Trump first announced Sunday in his Truth Social Post on Sunday that he would “will immediately begin the process of establishing a 100% tariff on all films that come to our country, produced on foreign lands.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick replied with X, “We’re working on that.”
The actor goes behind the scenes on how Trump is making Hollywood great again
“Hollywood elites hate this for the most part because they sell out workers in favor of their biggest profits while filming in insanely cheap working environments,” former Hollywood producer and conservative activist Robbie Starbuck told Fox News Digital. “American workers called “below” filmmaking could get more jobs here beyond the moon, and rental housing couldn’t be happier. ”
“Overall, there’s a short-term pain in the studio, but in the long run it will strengthen the American film business,” Starbuck said. “Also, communist Chinese propaganda efforts will hit the move hard.”
Location production in the Grand Los Angeles region fell 22.4% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to Filmla, a nonprofit organisation of city and county film permits.
One film producer told the New York Times last month that the Hollywood film industry is experiencing an “existential crisis.” The newspaper said real-life shows, indie films and even blockbuster films have increased business decisions to film the disadvantages of middle-class workers in the Los Angeles area overseas, including camera speakers and set decorations.
The newspaper said despite many available studios in Hollywood, the game show The Floor chose to fly host Robrow and 100 American contestants to Dublin, Ireland, rather than filming the show domestically.
Trump has announced 100% tariffs on all diplomatic production films. “We want a movie made in America!”
The BBC reported that several recent major films produced by US studios, including “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Wicked,” and “Gladiator II,” have been recorded overseas. “Mission Impossible” was also filmed outside the United States.
In his true social post, Trump said the American film industry is “deathing very fast,” while other countries argued that “providing all sorts of incentives to separate filmmakers and studios from the United States.”
“This is a coordinated effort by other countries and therefore a national security threat. It is messaging and propaganda, in addition to everything else!” Trump wrote. “We want a film made in America again!”
Trump told reporters on Sunday that other countries were “stealing” the ability to move from the US, and told him “were doing very strong research over the past week.”
The president said the US is “making very few films now,” and Hollywood is “destroyed.”
Actor John Voight (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“I’m not just blaming other countries because you have an incompetent, grossly incompetent governor who has allowed it to happen,” Trump said.
“But other countries have stole our film industry. They’re not going to make films in America, so we should have tariffs on the films that come in,” Trump added. “The government is actually giving them a lot of money. It means they’re financially supporting them, so that’s kind of a threat to our country. And it was a very popular thing. …Moviemakers love it.”
In January, Trump appointed stars John Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as “special ambassadors” for Hollywood.
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Angelina Jolie’s father, Voight, reportedly recently met with film executives and union representatives in Los Angeles, and has created plans to revive the American filmmaking industry, Deadline reported.
Trump’s Hollywood ambassador has met with the International Alliance of America, the Teamsters and theatrical stage employees before, sources told the outlet.
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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