California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) reacted Monday evening to President Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on movies made outside the U.S. by asking for a $7.5 billion tax credit for the industry instead.
Trump made the tariff proposal Sunday as a way of shifting Hollywood production back to the U.S., after decades in which the industry sought to cut costs by filming in Canada or even as far away as South Africa.
The president’s proposal drew applause from unions that represent “below the line” workers in the film industry, such as the Teamsters, which praised the president for taking American workers seriously.
But the Hollywood studios — whose executives are among the most lavish donors to the Democratic Party — were alarmed, and Newsom, normally combative towards the president, pleaded for tax incentives instead.
The Wrap reported:
Gavin Newsom responded Donald Trump’s demand for steep tariffs on movies filmed outside the U.S. with a plea for the President to “partner” with him instead on a proposed $7.5 billion federal tax credit for Hollywood.
The proposed tax incentive would be separate from the California state tax credits Newsom is trying to enact, including the proposal announced in October expand the state’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program to $750 million annually. It is currently $330 million annually.
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There is as of this writing no indication the Trump administration has any interest in Newsom’s proposal. But Trump insulted Newsom repeatedly during a press conference earlier Monday to discuss his proposed tariffs, blaming him personally for the decline of film and TV production in California.
Newsom has sued the Trump administration 15 times in the first 100 days of his administration, including over tariffs on trade. He also signed $50 million in additional spending for lawsuits against Trump policies, and for state-sponsored legal aid for illegal immigrants — even while asking Trump and the Republican Congress for $40 billion in spending to help with the recent wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles.
Oscar-winning actor Jon Voigt, an outspoken conservative and an “ambassador” from the administration to Hollywood, is working on a set of proposals to increase production within the ailing entertainment industry.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who represented Hollywood interests throughout his career in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been silent about Trump’s tariffs for foreign film, focusing instead on partisan politics.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
