US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he will impose steep tariffs on foreign-made movies and furniture, targeting industries he claims have been hollowed out by overseas competition.
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump accused other countries of “stealing” the US movie industry, saying California had been “particularly hard hit.” He declared to impose a 100% tariff on all films produced outside 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'," he said on Monday.
It was not immediately clear what legal authority Donald Trump would rely on to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films, Reuters reported. The White House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on implementation details, and major studios including Warner Bros Discovery, Comcast, Paramount Skydance and Netflix also declined to comment.
Shares of Netflix were down 1.5% in early trading. Trump had first raised the idea of such a tariff in May but gave few specifics, leaving industry executives uncertain whether it would apply to particular countries or all imports, according to Reuters.
Studio executives told Reuters earlier this year they were “flummoxed” by how such a measure might be enforced, since modern productions often involve financing, post-production and visual effects spread across multiple countries.
Legal and trade analysts have also voiced skepticism, with some noting that films are a form of intellectual property and part of the global trade in services — an area where the United States typically runs a surplus — raising questions about the legal basis for tariffs. The rise of co-productions with foreign studios has further fueled doubts about how such films would be classified, Reuters said.
In another post, Trump said North Carolina had “completely lost its furniture business to China and other countries” and promised “substantial tariffs on any country that does not make its furniture in the United States.”
Donald Trump did not provide further details on when or how the proposed tariffs would be implemented.
*With Agency Inputs
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