By Ojochenemi Onje

Copyright businessday

Donald Trump, President of the United States, has announced plans to impose a 100 per cent tariff on movies produced outside the U.S, a move he claims is necessary to protect the American film industry from what he described as foreign “theft.”

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday, Trump argued that other countries had been luring away Hollywood productions, undermining America’s historic leadership in filmmaking.

He singled out California, saying the state had suffered the most under what he called the weak leadership of its governor.

“Our movie-making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.

“California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit! Therefore, in order to solve this long-time, never-ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT”, Trump wrote.

Despite the declaration, the president provided no timeline for when the measure would take effect or clarity on how the tariffs would be enforced.

This is not Trump’s first attempt to shield the American film industry from global competition.

In May, he announced a similar tariff proposal, saying that foreign incentives were driving U.S. producers and directors overseas.

At the time, he framed the policy as critical to national security, insisting it would “save” Hollywood and restore American dominance in global entertainment.

The president also claimed to have authorised the Department of Commerce to begin the process of enforcing the tariffs, though no details of the plan have since been made public.

Monday’s statement leaves open the question of whether Trump intends to expand on that earlier announcement or simply reiterate it.