Global film industry unshaken by Donald Trump's renewed tariff threats

A Star Wars: Starfighter film in Britain, soundstages in Hungary stay packed, and post-production houses in Australia hum with activity; the global film industry appears largely unfazed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threats to impose tariffs on movies produced outside the United States.

Trump has revived a proposal to levy a 100% tariff on foreign-made films in an effort to curb the loss of U.S. film jobs to overseas production hubs, an idea he first introduced in May.

The earlier announcement sent shockwaves through Hollywood, temporarily stalling projects and international financing deals as producers scrambled to assess how such tariffs might affect budgets and profitability, according to two sources familiar with Hollywood financing.

This time, however, the industry’s reaction has been notably more subdued.

“Other than the initial flurry of ‘Oh, he’s said it again,’ people are not taking it as seriously as they did the first time around”, said a partner at London law firm Lee & Thompson, Lee Stone, who has also worked on Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Adolescence.

Trump’s initial call for tariffs, made just weeks before the Cannes Film Festival, caused widespread anxiety in the industry. “It was terrible timing. Everyone was saying, ‘What’s going to happen?’” Stone recalled. “I’m not getting the impression that there’s the same pause this time”.

New data from industry research firm ProdPro supports that view. While overall global production spending is down 15% from last year amid a slowdown in big-budget films and scripted TV, there’s no sign that studios are moving production back to the U.S. because of tariff concerns.

“We’re not seeing anything in the data that suggests studios are opting to film more of their production in the U.S. because of concern about the tariffs,” said ProdPro CEO Alexander LoVerde.

According to ProdPro, the U.S. remains the largest single production hub, accounting for $16.6 billion in film and television spending over the past 12 months. However, Hollywood studios and streamers spent even more $24.3 billion on projects produced abroad, taking advantage of tax incentives, lower labour costs, and world-class facilities.

The United Kingdom continues to be a major beneficiary, attracting $8.7 billion in film and scripted TV spending over the past year, including the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter, the highly anticipated next chapter in the franchise set for release in May 2027. Canada follows closely with $6.4 billion, while Australia, Ireland, Hungary, and Spain collectively account for nearly a quarter of global production activity.

Despite Washington’s renewed threats, the data suggests Hollywood’s global footprint remains as strong as ever.