How Producers Can Respond to Trump’s Film Tariffs

It was the message heard around the world that will forever change productions around the world. Hollywood executives and producers are reeling after President Donald Trump’s Sunday announcement that could place film production squarely in the crosshairs of his expanding tariff war, threatening to fundamentally reshape how and where content is created worldwide.

President Trump made this announcement via post on his Truth Social platform, stating that he has directed his trade representatives to implement a 100% tariff on all foreign-produced films. He claims Hollywood studios are shifting production overseas to take advantage of financial incentives offered by other countries.

After a life-altering pandemic in 2020, an unprecedented labor strike with WGA, SAG-AFTRA and DGA in 2023, and an increasingly soft theatrical market, this latest issue feels like the final straw in a series of distressing factors that could upend the film and television business as we know it. But a tariff proclamation is also filled with ambiguity and uncertainty. While many speculate the impacts of what experts are predicting to be a “seismic” industry shift, producers must strategically proceed with their work and be prepared to pivot when the revised posts come in.

As an entertainment lawyer focused on studio and producer representation, here are a few tips that I have been repeating on loop to industry clients and connects since the announcement.

1. Remain Calm

As an industry, we should all add this to the list of challenges that come with bringing a project into fruition. While the tariffs present a host of new issues, the focus for producers now needs to be on what they can control and on monitoring what they cannot.

2. Made in America

If you are a U.S. producer, plan to shoot in the United States… for now. While we do not yet know the full impact of the tariffs and its guidelines, if there is a way to make something in the U.S. in 2025, I would advise that you stay put in America. In the past 24 hours alone, we have already heard of films pulling out of Canada for fear of the tariff repercussions.

3. Bet Your Dollar on American Estimates Only

With the unknown impact of how the rest of the world will respond, as a producer or financier, you can only rely on how a project may perform in the United States. Foreign sales will almost certainly be negatively impacted but the extent is unknown. Whether foreign territories provide reciprocal tariffs or incentivize the acquisition of local content, foreign sales and even the estimates around foreign sales will be in a state of freefall for the coming weeks. Suffice to say, the 2025 Cannes market will be filled with even more groans on moans than years past.

4. Keep Your Eye Out for Loopholes

Without any guidance on what the tariff means, producers need to bob and waive for how to make it work. Many questions are up in the air and top of mind. Is Puerto Rico part of America? Will U.S. incentives improve as a response or become complacent because producers have less motivation to shoot elsewhere? Is a worldwide streamer based in the U.S. exempt, and is a U.S.-owned production that controls the project exempt even if they shoot or handle post-production elsewhere? Your guess is as good as mine but follow the information to adjust accordingly.

Whatever the end results, another unknown variable to overlay an already distressed film and television market feels like the last thing anyone can take right now. Despite the new politicized odds against them, producers in this town will need to stay aware, be vigilant and do what they’ve always done in this topsy turvy industry – adapt.