US President, Donald Trump has extended his trade war to the cinema as he ordered a 100% tariff on foreign movies.
CNN reported that, Trump, in an evening post on his social media platform, Truth Social on Sunday, said he has instructed the Commerce Department and US Trade Representative to place a 100% tariff on films that are produced outside the United States and imported into America.
“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.
“Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”;, Trump wrote in his post.
According to reports, US box office gross topped out at just under $12 billion in 2018 before nosediving to just over $2 billion in 2020, when many theaters were shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although theaters have rebounded, the number of releases is about half of what it was in 2019, and the total domestic box office gross hasn’t eclipsed $9 billion since.
