Trump wants to ‘make Hollywood great again’ with tariffs on foreign films; California lawmakers are skeptical
The White House is still brainstorming how to deliver on President Donald Trump s plan to impose tariffs on films produced in foreign countries A few California Democrats say it would only bring chaos to the industry The Trump administration has done a lot of crazy things and so that s why when he says something crazy you can t just dismiss it out of hand Rep Ted Lieu communicated NOTUS On Sunday Trump revealed on Truth Social that he would start the process to tax all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands He also noted without much explanation that movies produced outside the U S pose a threat to national guard Even after the stocks of multiple media companies fell sharply on Monday Trump doubled down on the tariff idea telling reporters in the Oval Office he would meet with film industry leaders to get them on board White House aides say that this strategy is still in an exploratory phase Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump s directive to safeguard our country s national and economic guard while Making Hollywood Great Again White House spokesperson Kush Desai narrated NOTUS in an email Specific Democrats did chalk up Trump s threat as noise This is just pure chaos for this administration Rep Derek Tran who represents part of Los Angeles informed NOTUS There is no focus they re just trying to say tariffs on this one day tariffs on something else another day It s insane While the bulk California congressional Democrats to whom NOTUS spoke were skeptical about Trump s measure Rep Lauren Friedman a Democratic freshman whose district houses much of Hollywood welcomed the attention that the Trump administration brought to the industry and appealed the president to consider a more targeted approach I appreciate that the administration is recognizing that we have a dilemma of losing one of our signature industries from the United States Friedman stated NOTUS I personally don t understand how a tariff would work for film or intellectual property but I do know that a film tax credit would work because it s worked in California I would love to work with the administration on having a national film tax credit she added Multiple outlets disclosed that Trump s proposal came right after the president met with actor Jon Voight in Mar-a-Lago The actor who has long been a Trump supporter and was tapped as special envoy to Hollywood by the administration reportedly met with Trump to discuss means to boost the domestic TV and film industry I mean tariffs work on goods I m not sure how they work on movies you know Rep Scott Peters described NOTUS All the moviemaking around the world helps Americans actors and crews So I think it s just another ridiculous political thing This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS a publication from the nonprofit nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute and NEWSWELL home of Times of San Diego Santa Barbara News-Press and Stocktonia
