Trump’s proposed film tariffs spark panic across Britain’s studios

Trump is swinging at the film industry, this time with a 100% tariff that would hit every non-American film trying to enter U.S. cinemas.

If he moves forward, Britain’s film industry could be screwed. This sector’s already limping from streaming pressure, labor strikes, and low box office numbers since COVID. A trade punch from Washington might be the last straw.

The warning first dropped in May. Then in September, Trump went online and ranted that other countries had “stolen” Hollywood’s business. And just like that, this idea of tariffs on foreign films was back on the table, only now it’s not just talk.

If enforced, it would completely throw off the balance for Britain, where studios like Pinewood and Shepperton rely heavily on U.S. money to survive.

Britain depends on U.S. cash to keep cameras rolling

The numbers are blunt. Last year, 65% of U.K. film production money came directly from U.S. studios and streaming services, according to the British Film Institute (BFI). Without that pipeline, local producers are exposed. Director Howard Berry said, “We are quite reliant on the U.S. investing into the U.K. to make films. We have to wait for them to say we’re going to make a film, and then we scramble around to make it happen.”

Howard added that:- “We’re not so great at having a pot of money for the U.K. to say we’re going to make U.K. films… if that money doesn’t happen anymore, we’re kind of stuck.”

This is happening while the sector’s barely managing to recover. Streaming platforms are still eating up audience attention. Box office numbers are stuck below pre-pandemic levels. Add in the effects of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, and now Trump decides to throw another wrench into the mix.

Director Gurinder Chadha, whose new film Christmas Karma is set to release this winter, said flat out, “It’s a miracle I’ve been able to make the film.” She added, “I’m not sure that tariffs are practical, but I think we have to look at the message behind that, which is that every country is trying to protect its own film industry.”

Tariff threat fuels wider talks and new alliances

Even with the pressure, Britain’s creative sector is still huge. The creative industries contribute £126 billion per year, according to Caroline Dinenage, a member of parliament. The film and TV slice alone brought in £5.6 billion in production spend last year. But without foreign help, those numbers might slide fast.

And this isn’t just a U.K. problem. Global filmmaking isn’t clean-cut. A single movie might get scripted in New York, shot in London, scored in Berlin, and edited in Seoul. That makes Trump’s idea harder to execute.

Tim Richards, CEO of Vue, said, “How do you define what is going to be actually hit by these tariffs?” He also pointed to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who just raised film tax credits to $750 million in a push to keep Hollywood productions from going overseas.

Still, some in the U.K. see a new path. Zygi Kamasa, head of True Brit Entertainment, thinks more co-productions with Europe and Asia might fill the gap. “A lot of our films that we made in Britain travel very well,” he said. “And I think we’d look at co-production opportunities more out of the European territories.”

But don’t expect the British government to get loud about this. When Trump first threatened the tariffs, a government spokesperson told reporters it wasn’t “in the national interest” to comment on trade disputes. They added only that the U.K.’s film sector is “world-class.” Not exactly a fight-back.

Dinenage said, “It’s a really important thing for our prime minister to be discussing with the U.S. government, and I think it should definitely be front and center of any future trade discussion.”

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