Trump's Trials - Tariffs on movies? Trump announcement sparks global confusion

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

The film industry started the week in some confusion after President Trump announced on social media that he was imposing a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports. Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detro and this is Trump's Terms from NPR. We're going to be doing all sorts of things nobody ever thought was even possible. President Trump has brought back strength to the White House. We can't just ignore the president's desires. This will be an entirely different country in a short period of time. Every episode we bring you one of NPR's latest stories about the 47th president and how he is trying to remake the federal government. Today's story starts right after this. Tariffs, recessions, how Colombian drug cartels gave us blueberries all year long. That's

the kind of thing the Planet Money podcast explains. I'm Sarah Gonzalez and on Planet Money, we help you understand the economy and how things all around you came to be the way they are. Para que sepas. So you know. Listen to the Planet Money Podcast from NPR. I'm Michelle Martin in Washington, DC. And I'm Amy Martinez in Los Angeles, California. The film industry started the week with a little confusion. That was after President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was imposing a 100% tariff

on movies produced outside the US. On Sunday night, he posted that, quote, 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, unquote. NPR Entertainment correspondent, Mandelita Albarco joins us now to talk about this.

So, Mandelite, the basic question is probably gonna spring up more questions. So how would 100% tariff on films made outside of the U.S. actually work? Yeah, that's exactly what everyone in Hollywood and in film and TV industries around the world would like to know. President Trump's initial announcement was surprising.

It left so many questions. Who would have to pay a tariff? The studios, film distributors? Will ticket prices go up? Would this be for international films or for American film shooting or filming on location or on sound stages around the world? What about TV and streaming shows?

There have been a lot of emergency closed door meetings, group chats and social media speculation. Studios have been a lot of emergency closed-door meetings, group chats, and social media speculation. Studios have been quiet so far, but the head of IATSE, the union representing behind-the-scenes entertainment workers, says any plan must not harm the U.S. or Canadian film industries. The president says other countries are offering incentives to attract movie studios and filmmakers. So can you tell us about the incentives that he was referring to? I know that you have been reporting on this. Yeah, that's right.

And it's true that for decades, places like Canada, the UK, Australia, and really all over the world, they've offered productions generous tax incentives, rebates, and grants to shoot or film in their countries. Some have even built new sound stages to entice productions to wanting to cut costs. Trump says the global incentives are a threat to national security.

Okay, so what are people overseas saying about this announcement from Trump? You can imagine A, studios and unions around the world are worried that this could spell the end of their own production industries. Some wonder if countries will retaliate with their own tariffs on American films. Yesterday, President Trump told reporters he wants to meet the film industry in this country to make sure they're happy with his plan to bring back showbiz jobs. Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business.

They have the nice side and everything's good, but they don't do very much. All right, so why do you think this issue came up at all for President Trump? Well, I'll give you a hint. John Voight, Trump calls the actor one of his special ambassadors, along with Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson. In a video shared with NPR, Voight calls Trump

the greatest president since Abe Lincoln and his friend. Who loves the entertainment business, wants to see Hollywood thrive and make films bigger and greater than ever before. John Voight says he presented Trump a plan to rescue the American film industry with federal tax incentives, co-production treaties with other countries, and subsidies for theater owners and film and TV production companies. Late last week, Voight also met with California Senator Ben Allen, who co-authored a state

bill that would expand film and TV incentives, along with California Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to more than double the state's production tax credits. Trump blamed the governor for allowing productions to leave California, but late last night, Newsom said in a statement that he wants to team up with the Trump administration to create a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit. All right, that's NPR's mandalit, El Barco. Thanks a lot.

Thank you, A. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detro. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.