Trump announced plans to impose a 100 per cent tariff on foreign-made films, calling global competition a theft of U.S. filmmaking.
Entertainment industry leaders expressed uncertainty, noting modern films rely on multinational production and financing.
Trade experts doubt the legality of such tariffs, as films are treated as intellectual property and part of the services trade.
Trump Threatens 100 per cent Tariff on Foreign Films, Alarming Hollywood
Move to extend protectionist trade policy into cultural industries sparks confusion and scepticism over legality and enforcement.
Summary
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to disrupt Hollywood's worldwide business model on Monday when he announced that he would slap a 100 per cent tariff on all foreign-made films.
Reuters reported that for studios that rely significantly on foreign box office receipts and cross-border co-productions, the move raises concerns as it indicates Trump's determination to expand protectionist trade policies into the cultural industries.
Trump, who claims that international competition is outpacing American filmmaking, announced the plan in a post on his Truth Social platform.
"Our movie-making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing candy from a baby," he wrote.
However, it was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump would use to impose a 100 per cent tariff on foreign-made films, reported Reuters.
Entertainment executives were uncertain whether the president's May proposal for a movie levy would apply to all imports or just certain nations because he provided so few specifics.
Earlier this year, studio executives told Reuters that they were "flummoxed" by the idea of enforcing a movie tariff because contemporary films frequently involve production, financing, post-production, and visual effects that are dispersed across several nations.
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According to Reuters, legal and trade analysts are sceptical of the move. Some contend that films are a type of intellectual property and a component of the international services trade, in which the United States frequently has excess supply, casting doubt on the legitimacy of tariffs.
Co-productions with foreign studios have also become more common, adding to doubts about how such films would be classified.
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