Donald Trump renews threat to impose 100% tariff on movies made outside America
'Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries'
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Published Sep 29, 2025 • Last updated 11 hours ago • 5 minute read
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to slap a 100% tariff on all films produced outside of the United States.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent governor, has been particularly hard hit,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.
“Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never-ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
It was unclear what sparked Trump’s social media post, but the president initially promised to levy the tariff back in May when he called foreign-made Hollywood movies “a National Security threat.”
“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,” Trump wrote at the time.
The president also declared that productions filmed outside of the U.S. are a form of “messaging and propaganda!”
Trump continued his message back in May by saying he was “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. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Speaking to reporters in video footage shared by C-SPAN, Trump claimed other countries have been “stealing the … movie-making capability of the United States.”
If he convinces the majority of studios to relocate productions to the U.S., Trump’s tariff threat would devastate the Canadian film and TV industry, which has successfully lured productions north of the border thanks to millions in tax breaks. In Ontario, major Hollywood studios and streamers helped lift business in the province to the tune of $3.15 billion in 2022 with more than 35,000 people employed in business.
In 2023, Ontario’s film and television industry contributed $1.8 billion to the provincial economy.
Amazon-MGM (The Boys, The Expanse, Reacher and The Handmaid’s Tale), Paramount (Star Trek) and Netflix (The Umbrella Academy, Fubar and Ginny & Georgia) utilize studios in Toronto, and Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro shoots his feature films in the city, including his upcoming Frankenstein adaptation starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac.
Apple filmed multiple seasons of Jason Momoa’s post-apocalyptic drama See in Toronto and Disney recently wrapped work on a Christmas movie featuring the Jonas Brothers that was shot locally.
A decade ago, Warner Bros. spent $80 million shooting the DC superhero film Suicide Squad in the city. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has also paid a visit to Toronto, with shooting on the first Incredible Hulk movie happening in Hogtown back in 2007 as well as the very first X-Men movie in the late ’90s.
In 2017, Netflix committed to spend a minimum of half a billion dollars on original production in Canada over five years. A website set up by the streamer — Netflix in Your Neighbourhood — shows the hundreds of filming locations productions have visited across the country.
After Amazon-MGM inked a multi-year deal to produce shows and movies utilizing the sound stages at Pinewood Toronto Studios last year, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he wanted to see $5 billion worth of movie and television production take place in the province.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also called the film and TV industry a driving economic force in the city that contributes to the “tremendous vibrancy of the whole arts and culture sector.”
Trump did not announce how he’ll implement his tariffs, but he did say shortly before his inauguration in January that he was tapping Hollywood actors Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight to help bring business lost to “foreign countries” back to Hollywood.
“It is my honour to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump, 79, wrote on Truth Social.
“They will serve as special envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to foreign countries, BACK — BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like the United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
Back in May, Canadian producer Robert Lantos, who has worked with David Cronenberg, Istvan Szabo and Atom Egoyan, called Trump’s ultimatum is “much ado about nothing.”
“First of all, administering it would be virtually impossible to measure,” Lantos told Postmedia in a phone interview. “What would you base the tariff on since the (filming is taking place) outside the U.S. but most of it is done by Americans? The directors, actors, department heads, most of them are Americans. So are you having tariffs on Americans? … It’s a case of a dog barking. I don’t think it will have the slightest impact.”
But Catherine Fortin-LeFaivre, Senior Vice President, International Policy and Global Partnerships for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, sounded the alarm on Trump’s threats.
“Such a move ignores the integrated nature of the North American film industry, where U.S. productions regularly rely on Canadian crews, facilities and talent to deliver some of Hollywood’s biggest hits,” Fortin-LeFaivre said in a statement shared with Postmedia. “The reality is simple: Canada and the United States do not just trade films, we make them together. Breaking that model would weaken both economies and jeopardize thousands of middle-class jobs on both sides of the border.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, Ford responded to Trump’s latest threat by saying the president “drives me crazy.”
“I disagree with anything that guy says,” Ford said.
mdaniell@postmedia.com
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'Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries'
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Published Sep 29, 2025 • Last updated 11 hours ago • 5 minute read
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to slap a 100% tariff on all films produced outside of the United States.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent governor, has been particularly hard hit,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.
“Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never-ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
It was unclear what sparked Trump’s social media post, but the president initially promised to levy the tariff back in May when he called foreign-made Hollywood movies “a National Security threat.”
“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,” Trump wrote at the time.
The president also declared that productions filmed outside of the U.S. are a form of “messaging and propaganda!”
Trump continued his message back in May by saying he was “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. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Speaking to reporters in video footage shared by C-SPAN, Trump claimed other countries have been “stealing the … movie-making capability of the United States.”
If he convinces the majority of studios to relocate productions to the U.S., Trump’s tariff threat would devastate the Canadian film and TV industry, which has successfully lured productions north of the border thanks to millions in tax breaks. In Ontario, major Hollywood studios and streamers helped lift business in the province to the tune of $3.15 billion in 2022 with more than 35,000 people employed in business.
In 2023, Ontario’s film and television industry contributed $1.8 billion to the provincial economy.
Amazon-MGM (The Boys, The Expanse, Reacher and The Handmaid’s Tale), Paramount (Star Trek) and Netflix (The Umbrella Academy, Fubar and Ginny & Georgia) utilize studios in Toronto, and Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro shoots his feature films in the city, including his upcoming Frankenstein adaptation starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac.
Apple filmed multiple seasons of Jason Momoa’s post-apocalyptic drama See in Toronto and Disney recently wrapped work on a Christmas movie featuring the Jonas Brothers that was shot locally.
A decade ago, Warner Bros. spent $80 million shooting the DC superhero film Suicide Squad in the city. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has also paid a visit to Toronto, with shooting on the first Incredible Hulk movie happening in Hogtown back in 2007 as well as the very first X-Men movie in the late ’90s.
In 2017, Netflix committed to spend a minimum of half a billion dollars on original production in Canada over five years. A website set up by the streamer — Netflix in Your Neighbourhood — shows the hundreds of filming locations productions have visited across the country.
After Amazon-MGM inked a multi-year deal to produce shows and movies utilizing the sound stages at Pinewood Toronto Studios last year, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he wanted to see $5 billion worth of movie and television production take place in the province.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also called the film and TV industry a driving economic force in the city that contributes to the “tremendous vibrancy of the whole arts and culture sector.”
Trump did not announce how he’ll implement his tariffs, but he did say shortly before his inauguration in January that he was tapping Hollywood actors Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight to help bring business lost to “foreign countries” back to Hollywood.
“It is my honour to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump, 79, wrote on Truth Social.
“They will serve as special envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to foreign countries, BACK — BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like the United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
Back in May, Canadian producer Robert Lantos, who has worked with David Cronenberg, Istvan Szabo and Atom Egoyan, called Trump’s ultimatum is “much ado about nothing.”
“First of all, administering it would be virtually impossible to measure,” Lantos told Postmedia in a phone interview. “What would you base the tariff on since the (filming is taking place) outside the U.S. but most of it is done by Americans? The directors, actors, department heads, most of them are Americans. So are you having tariffs on Americans? … It’s a case of a dog barking. I don’t think it will have the slightest impact.”
But Catherine Fortin-LeFaivre, Senior Vice President, International Policy and Global Partnerships for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, sounded the alarm on Trump’s threats.
“Such a move ignores the integrated nature of the North American film industry, where U.S. productions regularly rely on Canadian crews, facilities and talent to deliver some of Hollywood’s biggest hits,” Fortin-LeFaivre said in a statement shared with Postmedia. “The reality is simple: Canada and the United States do not just trade films, we make them together. Breaking that model would weaken both economies and jeopardize thousands of middle-class jobs on both sides of the border.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, Ford responded to Trump’s latest threat by saying the president “drives me crazy.”
“I disagree with anything that guy says,” Ford said.
mdaniell@postmedia.com

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Donald Trump renews threat to impose 100% tariff on movies made outside America
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to slap a 100% tariff on all films produced outside of the United States.