Trump’s 100% movie tariff threat could hit Britain particularly hard
US President Donald Trump’s new threat to impose 100% tariffs on all films produced abroad could disrupt the global industry and deal a heavy blow to Britain’s already fragile sector.
The White House leader first announced duties for films shot outside the United States in May this year. He later reiterated the issue in September, writing on social media that other countries were “stealing” film production from the United States.
The UK’s film industry has faced many challenges in recent years, from Box Office sales struggling to recover to pre-pandemic levels, to increased competition from streaming platforms, SAG AFTRA strikes and now the threat of film tariffs.
Gurinder Chadha, director of the blockbuster films “Bend it Like Beckham” and “Bride & Prejudice”, will release a new film this winter called “Christmas Karma”, based on Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol”. The director told CNBC that it was a “miracle” that he was able to make the film, given the challenges the industry faces.
“I’m not sure tariffs are enforceable, but I think we need to look at the message behind it, which is that every country is trying to protect its own film industry,” he said.
Viewers wear 3D glasses to watch a movie.
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Still, the British film and TV industry is a bright spot for the economy, contributing billions of pounds through production spending, which reached £5.6 billion ($7.5 billion) last year, according to the British Film Institute (BFI).
“We know that our creative industries are worth – around £126bn a year – a lot of the time, people think of film and television as things that make you feel good, that entertain you, but they actually create thousands and thousands of jobs and huge amounts of inward investment in the UK,” said Caroline Dinenage, member of parliament and chair of the UK Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
US dependency
From Pinewood to Shepperton, UK studios are heavily dependent on US partnerships. Last year, 65% of film production spend in the UK came from US studios and streaming platforms, according to a BFI report.
According to film director Howard Berry, it would have been more difficult to make British films without this American contribution.
“We’re pretty reliant on the US investing in the UK to make movies. We have to wait for them to say we’re going to make a movie and then we try to make it happen,” he said.
“We’re not very good at having enough money for the UK to say we’re going to make UK films. So if we don’t have that money anymore, we’re kind of stuck. We don’t have that huge amount of investment to make our own films.”
Modern filmmaking; It is a collaborative process in which script writing, filming, post-production and music development are often worked on in different countries. This makes it difficult to enforce tariffs, according to Vue CEO Tim Richards.
“Because of the complexities, I think there are other ways to implement what Gavin Newsom is also proposing in California through tax credits and get to the same place, to achieve the same goals without having an impact on the industry,” Richards said, referring to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. he said.
This summer, Newsom increased the total film and TV tax credit in California to $750 million, nearly doubling the previous limit, in an effort to encourage more productions to film in Los Angeles.
“How do you define what these tariffs will actually impact? That’s what everyone’s really focused on,” he added.
Zygi Kamasa, CEO of UK-based theatrical distributor True Brit Entertainment, said US film tariffs could lead to the UK cooperating more with other countries.
“A lot of the films we’ve made in Britain over the years have been traveling very well to Europe and Asia. And I think we’ll be looking more at co-production opportunities outside of European territories to support funding opportunities.”
For now, the cameras remain rolling, but many in the industry hope the UK government will take action.
When Trump first called for a 100 per cent tax on films, a UK government spokesman told local media it was not in the national interest to provide “continued commentary” on trade issues with the US. They added that the British film industry was “first class”.
“It’s a really important issue for our prime minister to meet with the US government, and I think that should absolutely be front and center of any future trade discussion,” Dinenage said.
