A collected photo of US President Donald Trump

WASHINGTON, Sept 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Monday 
renewed his threat of imposing steep tariffs on films made outside the United 
States, claiming his country's industry has been "stolen" by others.

Trump's remarks come shortly after he threatened a slew of new tariffs to be 
imposed this week on branded pharmaceutical products, furniture, as well as 
heavy trucks respectively.

On Monday, Trump returned his focus to the film industry, charging in a Truth 
Social post that other countries have taken business from the United States, 
"just like stealing 'candy from a baby.'"

He criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom as "weak and incompetent," 
adding that the state has been heavily impacted.

"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," Trump wrote.

He did not provide further details on his plans, or a timeline for when these 
tariffs might be enacted.

Trump's latest post echoes a threat he made in May, when he said the US movie 
industry was "dying a very fast death."

At the time, he said he was authorizing the Department of Commerce and US 
Trade Representative to start the process of instituting a 100-percent 
tariff.

The implications for the movie industry remain unclear for now.

Hollywood is a major sector of the US economy, generating more than 2.3 
million jobs and $279 billion in sales in 2022, according to data from the 
Motion Picture Association.

But in the wake of the Hollywood strikes and the Covid pandemic -- which 
changed how Americans consumed movies, opting to watch at home instead of in 
theaters -- the industry has been struggling to regain momentum, industry 
insiders have said.

Trump's posts did not mention if television series, an increasingly 
profitable and popular sector of production, would be impacted.

Last Thursday, Trump said he would slap separate tariffs ranging between 25 
percent and 100 percent on branded pharmaceutical products, kitchen cabinets, 
upholstered furniture and heavy trucks.

These were to start on Wednesday, he added, with patented pharma products 
seeing 100-percent duties unless firms were building manufacturing plants in 
the United States.

Trump reiterated his threat on imported furniture, saying North Carolina "has 
completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries."