By Shashwat Bhandari

Copyright timesnownews

Washington: Donald Trump on Monday once again announced another instalment of his mad tariffs, levying a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside the United States of America, saying the ‘movies business’ is being stolen like ‘candy from a baby’. Taking to Truth Social, Donald Trump wrote, “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 per cent tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added. As the US President announced yet another round of tariffs, this time targeting the film industry after trade, pharma, and oil, let’s take a look at what we know on how it will impact and how. Since Donald Trump has just announced 100 per cent tariffs on movies made outside the United States, it’s not immediately clear how this will be implemented.When a film is made be it Bollywood or Hollywood, the shooting takes place according to the requirements of the script and may span multiple locations.Another aspect that remains unclear is whether the new tariffs would be levied on pre-production or post-production phase or both.The Trump administration has also not clarified whether the new tariffs would be imposed on US filmmakers working abroad or on foreign filmmakers if they are not making it in the United States such as Bollywood, Tollywood (India’s Telugu film industry), among others. If the new tariffs apply to American filmmakers, it may hamper their budgets, as producing a film in the United States comes at a higher cost.It may also impact other countries that have supportive filmmaking ecosystems, popular tourist destinations for film shoots, and better technology for post-production work like VFX, editing, etc.If the new tariffs are also imposed on filmmakers who are not from the US, then the business of Indian films catering to a vibrant Indian diaspora across languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada, may be hit.One impact of Trump’s tariffs could be on audiences, as filmmakers may pass on the burden by increasing ticket prices.Another aspect of the new tariffs that needs analysis is whether they will be implemented on streaming platforms. Legal Authority on Trump’s 100% Tariffs on Filmmaking Yet to Be Analysed Experts have said it is yet to be determined what legal authority Donald Trump has to impose 100 per cent tariffs on films not made in the United States. Donald Trump First Threatened to Impose Tariffs on Films in May This Year US President Donald Trump had first threatened to impose tariffs on films in May but did not provide a specific figure or further details. Filmmakers, as per reports, are still figuring out which parts of the movie-making business would be impacted by the new tariffs as production, financing, post-production, and visual effects all depend on different resources.