A man walks past movie posters at at AMC Theater in Montebello, Calif., on May 5.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
The Canadian film industry is calling for domestic support after President Donald Trump said he wants to impose 100-per-cent tariffs on all films produced outside of the United States.
The announcement included no details about how or when levies would be implemented, but Canadian groups warn that any tariffs could bring economic devastation to a sector deeply tied to Hollywood.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States.”
Mr. Trump claimed there was a “concerted effort by other nations” to incentivize American filmmakers to work abroad, which he said constitutes a national-security threat. The President has used similar claims to justify other punishing tariffs on Canada, including those on steel, aluminum and automobiles.
Over the past decade, Canada has grown increasingly dependent on Hollywood studios bringing productions north, attracted by provincial tax incentives and lower labour costs. This has turned cities such as Vancouver and Toronto into major production hotbeds, while Canadian animation and visual-effects studios have thrived on work outsourced by U.S. companies.
Several Canadian film groups have spoken out against the proposed tariffs, warning that they would threaten the film industry on both sides of the border, while also underscoring the need for the Canadian government to invest in the domestic industry.
“This is more than a trade dispute – it’s an attack on the livelihoods of Canadian performers and creators,” Eleanor Noble, national president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists union, said in a statement. “Now is the time to invest in a strong, truly domestic media production industry that can withstand external threats and thrive on the global stage.”
Reynolds Mastin, president and chief executive of the Canadian Media Producers Association, said Mr. Trump’s announcement is further proof that Canada needs to establish more rules to support a strong independent domestic industry.
“We can partner with foreign companies – in fact we want to – but we need to be able to tell our stories without depending on them.”
Hollywood’s major studios shoot many of their blockbusters abroad: Marvel, DC and Star Wars franchise films are shot in London, the coming Avatar sequel in New Zealand and Hallmark’s seasonal flicks in Canada.
Around $9.58-billion worth of shows and movies were filmed in Canada between April, 2023, and March, 2024, according to a report from the Canadian Media Producers Association. Within this figure, foreign productions accounted for $4.73-billion, while Canadian television made up $3.25-billion; in-house broadcaster productions, $1.16-billion; and Canadian theatrical features, $440-million.
In British Columbia and Ontario, the two provinces that would be most affected by such tariffs, politicians criticized Mr. Trump’s announcement and tried to reassure workers.
“To the folks in the film industry, don’t panic. The President tweets a lot of stuff. The implementation challenges of this are profound and [it’s] hard to understand exactly how this would work,” said B.C. Premier David Eby, speaking with reporters in Victoria on Monday.
The White House has not announced any specific details or timelines on the proposed tariffs, including if the duties would be calculated based on total production costs or box-office revenue.
“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 spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to The Globe and Mail.
Stan Cho, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, said he hoped the U.S. President would reconsider his threat, noting the sector provides tens of thousands of jobs and saw studios and production companies spend $3-billion on productions in Ontario just last year.
While he pledged to stand behind the film business, Mr. Cho offered no new moves or subsidies to protect Ontario’s film and TV sector, beyond the $1-billion in tax credits for local productions he said the province handed out in 2024.
“We’ve seen this type of behaviour from the President before,” Mr. Cho said. “He’ll say one thing one day and then the next day he’ll change his mind.”
With reports from Justine Hunter, Jeff Gray, Marie Woolf and Barry Hertz
