Trump’s 100% tariff attack on NZ Film Industry demands strength from Luxon – he’ll probably deport Kim Dotcom instead
Trump threatens 100% tariff on foreign-made films
President Donald Trump is opening a new salvo in his tariff war, targeting films made outside the US.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he has authorised the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands”.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” he wrote, complaining that other countries “are offering all sorts of incentives to draw” filmmakers and studios away from the US.
“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
Well at least Trump is acknowledging that Corporate Hollywood is little more than a entertainment arm of the US Military Industrial Complex…
…destroying our film industry because Corporate Hollywood can’t create propaganda for America as cheaply as it once did isn’t really much of a rational reason and it once again sets off massive disruption and uncertainty for our economy…
Film industry anxiously awaits details on Trump’s 100% movie tariff
The New Zealand film industry is anxiously awaiting more details of Donald Trump’s plan to slap 100 percent tariffs on movies made outside the United States.
The US President said Hollywood was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries are using to attract American filmmakers.
A day after the announcement, the president told reporters he would meet with industry officials first to make sure they liked the idea, Reuters reported. The White House said it had not made any final decisions on the tariffs.
Minister Nicola Willis told First Up some big American films have been made in New Zealand and the government has supported them with tax rebates.
“We have made some big American films here, recently the Marvel film, and we actually do support that. So that film, they spent about $9 million here and we gave them a tax rebate of $2 million to reflect the fact that them making a movie here is good for New Zealand and good for supporting our film industry.
Willis said she wanted to see the film industry continue to thrive.
…this is a major attack on an important industry all because Hollywood can’t make its propaganda profitable.
Here’s how we should respond: Defiantly.
Everyone who cowers to Trump gets smashed harder, he is a bully who has to be stood up to, only then does he back down.
The Government to date heave been cowards towards Trump and I can’t see them having the guts to stand up for our interests.
What they will probably do, is to try and force Kim Dotcom over to the Americans instead (despite Kim’s ongoing legal fight).
Luxon can’t stand up to Winston or David Seymour, how will he stand up to Trump?
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
So what? If America want to place a tariff on offshore made movies – what exactly are they going to tax?
Box office sales? Fees for distribution rights?
This is a tricky one. I can sort of see where the execrable Trump is coming from. The NZ taxpayer substantially subsidises the local film industry, and considerable employment, and creativity, has resulted. E.g., recently, parts of Oamaru and Dunedin stood in for early 20th century US in the filming of Steinbeck’s East of Eden. But is that in fact a role of government? I say yes, but could understand disagreement.
Disclosure: I have some modest skin in the game.
I’m sure our Prime Minister will handle the situation appropriately.
Yep latex gloves and lots of lube
I see what you did there…disguising the words ‘his cock’ with the words ‘the situation’….very clever!
Luxo flaky will be very proud of you!!
Kim.com being deported sounds good.
Bob troll.
He won’t stand up just bend over
Ironic that the US film industry lobbied for the incentives they enjoy here.
New Zealand governments might give millions of taxpayer dollars to support the “New Zealand film industry” as a branch of Hollywood, but they won’t say a word when President Trump threatens to pull the rug out from under the same industry.
But would we be any the worse if inane Hollywood movies are no longer be produced here with the help massive subsidies from the New Zealand state and taxpayers?
Not at all.
We might even see more movies being made which reflect and enhance our own culture.
At the worst, Peter Jackson and his cohorts could have to find themselves honest jobs.
Any level of appeasement only results in Trump labeling NZ as losers and encourages him to go further and demand more. He is insane.
If Luxon is too cowardly to stand up to Trump (of course he is) the best he can do for NZ is to do and say absolutely nothing to USA and wait for this to play out.
Better still would be for him to seek a coalition of other nations resolved to do the same thing.
Listen to all these comments about taxpayer subsidies. The same people are completely silent went it comes to landlords and real estate. Do you actually hear what you are saying? I guarantee the film industry in addition to employment and innovation (weta etc) does more for brand NZ globally than f’ing speculators.
And Peter Jackson has done more for this country then these people ever will
Like what ?remember when he got KEY to lower wage rates to bellow the minimum for his actors then went on to get billions from those movies .The only kiwis he helped were Fran and himself ,
Oh fuck off. You’ve never met the man, know nothing about him, and are speaking bollocks.
” know nothing about him”?
It’s obvious that Gordon clearly sees what Jackson did in this case.
In this case Trump might be right .
John Key bent over backwards and cut pay rates for local actors for the Lord of the rings movies .Then we give 20% tax rebates .How much do we get back as a % of the billions earned at the box office ?Zilch .This is corporate welfare at its best .
We should be seen as equal investors not free money and low wage tax free idiots .We should be at least get some of the royalties much like the underwhelming mining industry pay .
“John Key bent over backwards and cut pay rates for local actors for the Lord of the rings movies”… One needs to complete that picture.. This bit of bastardry included all “labour only” contractors in every branch of the trades in NZ…
Using the actors as a figleaf was an admittedly facile, and relatively easy exposed tactic, but NZ’s fourth estate ensured no connections were made that would have exposed the broad attack on the trades being undertaken by by our “loyal” government..