President Trump on Monday declared his support for federal tax credits to support film and television production in the U.S., which entertainment industry veterans say could boost a struggling industry that has lost huge amounts of business to foreign countries.

Studios, labor unions, and members of Congress from production hubs including California have been lobbying the White House since last year to endorse a federal incentive, according to people familiar with the matter. Many didn't want to speak publicly until the president did, believing he could most effectively rally the Republican-controlled Congress behind the idea.

In a post on platform Truth Social, Trump said he decided to endorse legislation after meeting with actor Jon Voight, a prominent Hollywood Republican who has been an adviser to the president on Hollywood-related issues.

"The amount of money spent on Tax Incentives will be made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury's coffers," Trump wrote. "Meetings are being set up with the Leaders of both Parties in order to get this done. It should be Bipartisan, especially since so much money is being lost in California, and other largely Blue States."

Entertainment workers in Los Angeles, Georgia and elsewhere are facing a severe shortage of work because of the exodus of production overseas and a downturn in the number of TV series being made.

Industry leaders have suggested a federal tax credit of 15% to 20% would, when added to the credits many states already offer, make the U.S. more competitive with the incentives and labor costs in Canada, the U.K. and Hungary, where many movies and TV shows are now produced. The president didn't suggest a specific figure for a tax credit in his post.

The Motion Picture Association, which represents Hollywood's major studios, followed Trump's statement with its own endorsement of a federal incentive. Now the group, together with entertainment unions and executives, faces the challenge of pushing bipartisan tax legislation through a bitterly divided Congress.

Some Republicans could be wary of subsidizing an industry whose best known figures, including actors and directors, are predominantly liberal. Many entertainment workers have blue-collar jobs, however, and are as politically diverse as the communities where they live. Real-estate developers who own half-empty soundstage complexes have also supported a federal incentive.

Incentives play a big role in where studios decide to shoot, particularly on big-budget productions, though studies have questioned whether they are an efficient use of states' economic development dollars.

Studios including Disney and NBCUniversal, have leased or built production hubs in the U.K., making it unlikely they'd quickly move film work back to the U.S. Television productions tend to be more flexible, though, and employ more people than movies in aggregate.

Last year, Trump suggested the U.S. should impose tariffs on foreign-made films. The proposal went nowhere in part because movies aren't physical goods that pass through a port.