Trump Repeats Call for 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign Films

U.S. President Donald Trump has renewed his push for steep import tariffs on films made outside the United States. Trump posted on Truth Social that he intends to impose a 100 percent tariff on “any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.”

This is not the first time Trump has raised the idea. Back in May, he declared that movies produced in other countries represented a “National Security threat” and directed the Department of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to begin the process of establishing a 100 percent tariff on foreign film imports. That earlier action has still not taken effect, and it remains unclear how the government would go about implementing such a policy.

The question is complicated by the nature of modern film production. Most major movies today involve crew members from multiple countries working on different aspects of the project, and shooting frequently takes place outside the United States even for Hollywood productions. Determining what counts as a “foreign” film under any new rule would be far from simple.

It is also not yet clear how any such policy would affect anime specifically. Many modern anime productions are co-financed by both Japanese and non-Japanese companies, and some productions or individual episodes are subcontracted to studios in other countries. A separate consideration is a WTO moratorium on tariffs for digital goods, which was extended in March 2024 through early 2026.

My take: The details here matter a great deal and most of them are still missing. A blanket tariff on foreign films would touch an enormous number of productions in complicated ways, and anime is no exception. This one is worth keeping a close eye on.