By Elsa Ohlen

President Donald Trump took aim at the movie industry over the weekend, saying he will impose a 100% import tax on movies produced abroad. The announcement was light on detail but still appeared to send shares of U.S. media companies down early Monday.

"I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. He also referred to efforts by other countries to incentivize domestic production as a national security threat.

Netflix shares fell 4% to $1,109.76 in premarket trading Monday following the announcement. Walt Disney and Paramount stock fell between 1% and 2%. Comcast dropped 0.8%.

A decent chunk of Hollywood's output is shot overseas to take advantage of tax and other incentives, and tariffs risk significantly denting the profitability of movie makers. How much would depend on the fine print of any future tariff policy.

It wasn't clear from Trump's post if movies and TV shows shot overseas but finished in the U.S. or content made abroad but available to U.S. audiences would be subject to the tariff.

The Department of Commerce and the White House's press department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular working hours.

Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com

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May 05, 2025 06:51 ET (10:51 GMT)

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