Trump’s Tariff Threat Worries Indian Film Industry
US President Donald Trump’s recent threat to impose a 100% tariff on foreign films has sent shockwaves through India’s film industry, from Bollywood to Tollywood. This comes at a time when the industry is already struggling with low audience turnout in cinemas and stiff competition from online streaming platforms.
In a social media post earlier this week, Trump reiterated a similar threat made in May, asserting that Hollywood had been “stolen” from America. He said, “I will be imposing a 100% tariff on any and all movies that are made outside the United States.”
Ashish Kulkarni, the founder of an Indian production house and an expert in animation and visual effects, expressed deep concern in an interview with The Hindu. He warned that such high tariffs would make viewing films more expensive, affecting all channels of content consumption, especially for the Indian diaspora.
Filmmaker Kabir Khan, in a discussion with NDTV, voiced his astonishment at Trump’s comments. He highlighted that many Hollywood films are filmed outside the US and that visual effects work is often done abroad too. “I have no idea what he means when he says ‘made outside of the United States,’” he remarked.
Trump’s statements indicate his plan to extend his protectionist policies to the entertainment sector. However, analysts are unsure how these tariffs would be executed, given that most films are distributed through digital platforms.
Karan Taurani, a media analyst at Elara Capital, mentioned that the Indian film industry garners around 10% of its annual box office revenue from overseas markets, with the US making up a significant portion of that.
