Back in May, Donald Trump unveiled a policy that was dumb and unworkable even by his rock bottom standards. He claimed Hollywood was “DYING a very fast death” and then revealed his plans for full euthanasia.
His argument (and it’s a stretch to even call it that) is that other countries offer “incentives” to make movies there, which he believed was a “national security threat” and “propaganda”. As such, he would “immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
The general response from the industry was that this was bats**t insane and would make any Hollywood movie with scenes shot abroad economically unfeasible. So, you can kiss goodbye to The Fast and the Furious crew’s globetrotting adventures, and Amazon’s next James Bond movie may be set entirely within the United States.
The movie tariff was such a bad idea that it was quickly swept under the rug, and most observers assumed they’d pretend Trump never mentioned it. Well, think again! Like a particularly stupid zombie, it’s back from the dead!
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! Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.
Well, I guess that’s movies over
The response has been pretty much what you’d expect:
Yes! I remember. The logistics were impossible.
— Sarcastic Canuck(@Kippy_mag_oddi) September 29, 2025
I still seriously doubt an idea this dumb will actually happen, but let’s play along for a moment. 2026’s biggest release will be Avengers: Doomsday, which recently wrapped principal photography in the United Kingdom, so it would be covered under this tariff.
Avengers: Doomsday is digital intellectual property, so it can’t be imported into the country the same way a physical object is. As such, Trump’s only option is to place a tariff on movie tickets to see it, or – in a truly apocalyptic scenario for both Disney and Hollywood – a tariff on its total box office revenue.
If this happens – and it’s so stupid I can almost guarantee it won’t – this tariff is also an existential threat to movies as a concept. After all, as Trump explains it, the tariffs specifically apply to movies rather than TV shows, so the smart move for studios would be to simply abandon movies as an art form in favor of making TV shows for streaming.
