Veteran Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has voiced strong opposition to US President Donald Trump’s latest move to impose a 100 per cent tariff on films produced outside the United States, warning that the decision could backfire on American cinema itself.
Kapur, who gained international acclaim for his Oscar-winning period dramas Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, took to X to highlight the far-reaching consequences of the move. “Over 75% of box office of Hollywood films come from outside the US. And significant part of the budget of those films are spent outside the US,” he wrote.
In a follow-up post, the Bandit Queen director warned, “President Trump’s imposition of 100% tarif on all films imported into the US may encourage Hollywood to move outside the US! Quite the opposite of what he intended.”
President Trump’s announcement, made on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, claimed the tariffs were necessary due to a “concerted effort by other Nations” that he labelled a “National Security threat”. He stated that agencies like the department of commerce would begin the process of implementation immediately, although no specifics were provided.
The announcement has left the entertainment industry scrambling for clarity. It remains uncertain whether the tariffs would extend to streaming platforms, whether they would be calculated on production costs or revenues, or how co-productions and partially US-based projects would be classified.
The policy also raises complex questions about enforcement. Many American films today are shot abroad for financial or creative reasons. This year’s box office leader, A Minecraft Movie, was filmed in New Zealand. Other major productions like Disney’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth were shot in multiple locations including the UK, Spain, Malta, and Thailand.
Would these still qualify as “foreign” under Trump’s definition? Films like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, primarily filmed in the UK but set for a US release later this month, lie in a grey area.
Former senior commerce department official William Reinsch warned of global retaliation, telling The Guardian, “The retaliation will kill our industry. We have a lot more to lose than to gain.”
Indian filmmakers and distributors, too, are sounding the alarm. Since most Indian films are neither produced nor shot in the US, they would fall under the purview of the new tariff.
Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri voiced his outrage on X. “Trump's 100% Movie Tariff Threatens Indian Cinema: Trump's 100% tariff on movies is a disastrous move. If this absurdity prevails, India's struggling film industry will collapse entirely, with no one to save it. Indian film leaders must wake up, unite, and fight this threat instead of chasing paparazzi and self-glorification.”
Senior journalist Sreedhar Pillai also cautioned that the tariffs will severely affect Indian movies screening in the US. “This will badly hit foreign films from India especially Telugu, Hindi & Tamil films imported and screened in US theatres,” Pillai posted on X.
Australia is likely to suffer a deadly blow due to Trump’s move. Chief executive of Screen Producers Australia (SPA), Matthew Deaner, said the move “will send shock waves worldwide”.
“At this stage, it is unclear what this announcement means in practice or how it will be applied and implemented,” Deaner told The Guardian. “There are many unknowns for our industry, but until we know more, there’s no doubt it will send shock waves worldwide.”
Australian arts minister, Tony Burke, said he was monitoring the situation closely. “Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry,” Burke said in a statement to the Australian media.