Local Film Insiders Weigh in On Trump’s Proposed Movie Tariffs

Despite President Donald Trump’s many disparaging comments about Hollywood, he recently posted to social media claiming he would impose tariffs on international films released in the United States.

So far, there has been no indication of when or how exactly these tariffs will even be implemented, but the consequences for the local film industry could be grim. As with most of Trump’s initiatives, it’s unclear who would be most immediately affected by the proposal, but there is a possibility it could impact theater owners, studios and distributors in North Texas.

Trump’s remarks included the notion that “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” a statement that is unequivocally false when considering the recent box office performance of films like Sinners, A Minecraft Movie, and Thunderbolts*. Nonetheless, Trump’s dismay at an increased number of international productions inspired him to propose a “100% tariff” on films from “other lands.”

James Faust, artistic director of the Dallas Film Society, says the area has “a strong international film market” based on the performance of non-American films in local theaters. Faust says local programmers have been confused about how Trump’s proposed tariffs would be imposed.

“Production of a lot of films has already happened, so is it [on new films] going forward,” he wonders. “It’s so ambiguous and so nebulous that it doesn’t seem very well thought out. There are different ways to do it [but] just tariff-ing something doesn’t bring any actual plan to create more or keep more production in the United States.”

Trump’s frustrations aren’t completely unfounded, as some in the industry have expressed concerns about the frequency with which films have been shot, produced, or completed internationally. Here in Texas, several noted movie stars, including Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, have helped raise initiatives for a proposal within the state budget that would give tax incentives to local films. Faust cited the proposal as an “actual idea” that might lead to more jobs for Texas filmmaking.

“A lot of producers are making things overseas,” says Faust. “It’s really expensive to shoot in Los Angeles. That’s why places like Atlanta, Canada, Oklahoma and Texas have been steadily taking production because… we’re not as jaded. There’s definitely an opportunity here with crews to make films at a lower price point, but we’re all being beat overseas. If there’s a way to stop that, I’m all ears, but I just don’t think a tariff is the way to stop that. Retaliatory tariffs could stop us from getting or seeing other films.”

While making local markets appealing to independent productions (many of which could qualify as small businesses) may be the best way to curate a more sustainable national market, Trump’s actions make it unlikely that there would be any additional government spending on arts programs.

Andrew Valentine, a local documentary filmmaker, doesn’t believe Trump’s rhetoric is grounded in any legitimate plans.

“Tariffs would be devastatingly bad for [films], but also I don’t really see these being a big target over here because they … usually play on one screen at a theatre for a few weekends, if that, over here,” says Valentine.

Trump’s target appears to be international-language cinema, as he previously disparaged the Academy Awards when Parasite became the first non-English-language film to win the award for Best Picture. Nonetheless, a tariff on international productions may be more substantial than he anticipated, given the high number of Hollywood productions that are partially completed overseas.

Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated new film, The Odyssey, was shot primarily in Morocco and Italy, and a majority of the visual effects work for this year’s Avatar: Fire and Ash was completed in Wellington, New Zealand. Both films are of particular note to Dallas audiences due to their release on premium formats – currently, Texas is among the nation’s leading states when it comes to IMAX, Dolby, and 4DX.

“Is he talking about off-shoring, where a U.S.-produced film is made fully overseas, like the latest Mission: Impossible,” says Valentine. “Not to mention how the actual mechanics of tariffs work? It’s really just physical files of these films being imported. So really, [I’m] just confused.”

Even when taking major studio productions out of the equation, disturbing the process of making international films would be a risky economic initiative given the recent boost in popularity for foreign-language titles. Recent box office successes included I’m Still Here and The Boy and the Heron, which performed well enough to suggest that they reached audiences beyond niche fans.

Tense relations with international markets may also impede the potential success of Texas-based productions like Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age film Boyhood, which grossed over $30 million internationally, arguably saving its profitability, considering it earned $25 million in the United States comparatively.

While several studio heads met to discuss options in the aftermath of Trump’s posts, the trickle-down effects of his erratic comments have recently led to repercussions across the industry. Many studios gutted their Diversity & Inclusion departments in reaction to his anti-DEI comments.

Amusingly, Trump’s group of “ambassadors to Hollywood,” which includes conservative celebrities like Jon Voight (credited with leading Trump-approved conversations with studios), who has spent the last decade of his career making direct-to-video films only profitable through foreign sales. The group also includes Mel Gibson, who plans to shoot his new film The Passion of the Christ 2 in Italy – and no, not the Italy just south of Dallas.