US President Donald Trump first floated the idea of levying foreign films in May, causing shares in US media giants to slump at the time. Photo: Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump said he would levy new tariffs to boost the domestic film and furniture industries through a pair of sweeping, yet confusing, plans.
Trump posted on social media Monday that he would be "imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States.” It’s unclear how that would work; companies, not countries, manufacture furniture and the duties are charged on specific imports, not governments.
"Details to follow!!” the president wrote. Trump said he would act "in order to make North Carolina, which has completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries, GREAT again.”
In a separate post, Trump reiterated his threat to impose a 100% tariff "on any and all movies that are made outside of 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.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit!” Trump posted, offering no further details.
Investors largely shrugged at Trump’s movie-tariff threat. Shares of Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. were little changed. Walt Disney Co. stock rose 1.1%.
The proposals nonetheless injected further uncertainty to Trump’s tariff regime, which has kept businesses on edge for the better part of the year. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on further details.
Trump first floated the idea of levying foreign films in May, causing shares in US media giants to slump at the time. The untested idea received strong push-back from the entertainment industry.
It’s not clear how such a tariff would work, nor how films would be valued for duty-collection purposes. Many films from Hollywood studios involve global production, shooting on multiple locations foreign and domestic and involving post-production work that could be done anywhere.
Trump already moved last week to impose a 30% levy on upholstered furniture and a 50% import tax on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities starting on Wednesday. Congressional Republicans have urged Trump to use tariffs on key imports, such as furniture, to boost their home-state industries. – Bloomberg
