ANKARA

US President Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on foreign-made films risks disrupting Hollywood’s reliance on international co-productions and cutting into profits that depend heavily on global audiences, a media professor told Anadolu.

Announcing the plan on Truth Social, Trump said the measure aims to revive what he described as a dying US film industry, saying: “Hollywood is being destroyed” by other countries. He later told reporters at the White House the tariffs would target movies made outside the US.

The announcement sent shares of major Hollywood companies — including Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery — downward, while cinema chains such as Cinemark and IMAX also saw losses.

The policy’s scope remains unclear. Experts say the complex structure of film production and distribution — often involving multiple countries — would make such tariffs difficult to enforce.

Facing criticism from the industry, Trump softened his tone, saying he would meet with studio representatives to “make sure they’re happy with it because we’re all about jobs.”

The global movie industry, already battered by the pandemic and ongoing labor disputes in the US, is now producing fewer films annually than countries like India, China and Japan, according to industry data. Meanwhile, international film sectors have outpaced Hollywood in production volume.

‘Hollywood built on international collaboration’

Cynthia Lucia, professor of media arts and director of film and media at Rider University in New Jersey, said the tariffs would “bring the US many problems,” particularly by disrupting international co-productions that Hollywood depends on.

She cited The Brutalist — a co-production between the US, UK, Canada and Hungary — which was nominated for 10 Oscars and won in three categories, including Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures.

Lucia said a policy forcing films to be made exclusively in the US would “weaken the creativity of the industry.” She pointed to classics like Lawrence of Arabia, which used real desert landscapes in the Middle East, saying that under a tariff regime, such a film would have to be shot in Arizona or with green screens, diminishing quality.

“Bringing a character to life in front of a green screen is much more difficult than an actor performing in a desert in Morocco,” she said.

Lucia warned that audiences may face limited access to international titles and noted that actors, production teams and film companies would all be affected.

She also said retaliatory tariffs from other countries could follow. “The American film industry generates over half its revenue from international screenings,” she said, adding that if the plan goes ahead, it “could lead to significantly less profits.”