President Donald Trump is imposing a 100 per cent tariff on any movie produced outside the United States, in a major blow for Australia’s film industry.
By doing so, Trump wants to save America’s movie industry from ‘dying a very fast death’.
‘Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,’ he claimed on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
‘Hollywood and many other areas within the USA are being devastated.
‘This is a concerted effort by other Nations and therefore a National Security threat.
‘It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda.’
Australia’s federal government provides generous tax incentives to get films made Down Under, including a 30 per cent location offset and a 30 per cent offset for post, digital, and visual effects, while state governments also contribute their own support packages.
Trump announced that he is authorising the Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to ‘immediately begin the process of instituting a 100 per cent tariff on any and all movies coming to our country that are produced in foreign lands’.
President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a 100 per cent tariff on any movie produced outside the United States
The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt (both pictured) was primarily filmed in Sydney
‘WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN,’ he concluded.
America’s commerce secretary Howard Lutnick posted on X: “We’re on it,’ in response to Trump’s announcement.
Arts minister Tony Burke said the government was monitoring the situation closely.
‘Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry,’ he told the ABC.
In 2023-24, foreign film and television productions accounted for $768million in screen expenditure in Australia.
Recent US productions filmed in Australia include The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling, The Mongoose with Liam Neeson, and Apex starring Charlize Theron.
Several new film studios and sound stages are under different stages of planning and construction in the Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and Melbourne.
Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner said Trump’s announcement reinforced the need for the Australian government to build ‘a resilient local industry that can withstand global shocks like this’.
According to FilmLA, a non-profit that tracks the region’s production, film and television production in Los Angeles has fallen by nearly 40 per cent over the last decade.
Governments around the world have offered generous tax credits and cash rebates to encourage productions, such as Australia’s 30 per cent location offset.
Australian academic Ben Eltham said Trump’s tariffs may force the country to focus on growing its local industry.
