The White House stated regarding President Donald Trump's plan to impose a 100% tariff on foreign films that "a final decision has not yet been made." This comes just a day after President Trump expressed his position.
On the 5th (local time), the White House issued a statement through Spokesperson Kush Desai to USA Today and The Hollywood Reporter.
The White House also conveyed, "The government is reviewing all options to achieve the president's directive to make Hollywood great again and to protect America's national and economic security."
The White House is seen as taking a step back compared to President Trump's existing policy just a day later, leading to speculation about how the movie tariff will be implemented.
The previous day, President Trump announced through his social media (SNS) platform Truth Social that "the U.S. film industry is rapidly declining" and directed the Department of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to impose a 100% tariff on all films produced abroad.
In response, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he is "working on" it.
However, President Trump did not specify whether online video services (OTT) would also be included in the tariff.
Meanwhile, during a sports-related event held at the White House, President Trump, when asked about the foreign film tariff, stated that he would "meet with film industry officials" and emphasized that he would "restore the glory of the American film industry."
The U.S. film industry is rapidly losing competitiveness due to rising production expenses from soaring labor costs. According to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), approximately 18,000 film-related full-time jobs have disappeared in California alone over the past three years.