Hollywood studios stocks dip after Trump announces 100% tariffs on movies produced abroad

Some of Hollywood’s biggest entertainment companies saw their stock prices dip Monday — hours after President Trump floated a shocking 100% tariff on all movies produced outside the US.In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump said he had authorized the Commerce Department and US Trade Representative to begin instituting the tariffs, framing the measure as a national security issue, but issued few details on just how such a levy would work.“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” he wrote Sunday.“It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, responding to Trump’s directive, posted on X: “We’re on it.” He offered no further details.On Monday, the White House said it has not yet made any final decisions on foreign film tariffs.“Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Post.Shares of Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros.Discovery and Paramount had each dropped more than 2% after the opening bell before paring back some losses by the afternoon.Industry executives said they were caught by surprise by Trump’s latest tariff threat.“Nobody saw this coming,” one senior studio executive told the Wall Street Journal.“There was no heads-up, no draft language, nothing.

Just a Truth Social post and chaos.”The proposed tariff targets films made outside the US by American studios — a common practice driven by generous foreign tax incentives and production infrastructure in countries like the UK and Canada.Trump took aim at these policies in his post, labeling them “a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.”But experts warn that applying tariffs to movies poses significant logistical and l...