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Trump Renews Call for '100% Tariff' Tax on All Movies Made Outside U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, his majority-owned social media service, on Monday that he is "imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States." The post is similar to one Trump made this past May, when he deemed movies produced in other countries a "National Security threat, and authorized the Department of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to start the process of imposing a 100% tariff on movies "coming into [the United States] that are produced in Foreign Lands."

That earlier May post's proposed import tax is still not in effect as of today, and it is unclear how the United States government plans to implement any proposed tariff on movies. Many film productions even from Hollywood studios are multinational in nature, involving crew from multiple territories involved in different tasks, and may often involve scenes that require shooting in locations outside of the United States. In March 2024, the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization extended a moratorium on tariffs on electronic transmissions (digital goods) until the next conference or March 31, 2026, whichever is earlier. 

It also remains unclear which anime would be affected by this proposed import tax. Many modern anime productions are co-produced and financed by both Japanese companies and companies from other countries. While anime productions are still mostly staffed by Japanese staff members or people otherwise residing in Japan, some anime productions or individual episodes have been sub-contracted to Chinese or South Korean studios, or have hired animators in the United States (among other countries) and other staff members outside of Japan.

Source: IndieWire (Ryan Lattanzio)