Trump's latest tariff may be his strangest

President Donald Trump on Monday announced he will place a 100% tariff on movies filmed outside of the United States—his latest idiotic trade move that will only harm the already flailing economy.

“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Therefore, 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The tariff is idiotic. Not only are tariffs inflationary and make costs for consumers rise, but also this particular tax seems impossible to implement. 

Movies are not a physical item that come through a port of entry, such as a piece of furniture, which Trump also recently announced he will place import taxes on.

"How does a movie tariff work? Can’t the files just be transmitted digitally?" Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport, which serves as customs brokers for thousands of companies, wrote in a post on X.

Aside from the fact that the tariff itself may run afoul of federal law that says Congress, not the president, has the power to institute tariffs, free speech experts said that tariffing movies made abroad could also violate the First Amendment.

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“Movies are speech protected by the First Amendment," Nico Perrino, executive vice president of the free speech organization FIRE, wrote in a post on X. "Levying targeted taxes on speech produced outside the United States (books, movies, internet traffic, etc.) will likely raise First Amendment concerns."

However, even the threat of tariffs could hurt the American movie industry, as other countries could make retaliatory moves that raise their costs. 

In fact, when Trump first proposed this stupid tariff back in May, stock prices for movie companies fell.

“The Governor tried to explain this to Trump months ago—when this was initially proposed—that his actions will cause irreparable damage to the U.S. film industry,” California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office wrote in a post on X. “Today’s move is 100% stupid.”

"I strongly support bringing movie making back to California and the U.S. Congress should pass a bipartisan globally-competitive federal film incentive to bring back production and jobs, rather than levy a tariff that could have unintended and damaging consequences," Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, whose home state of California is home to much of the American movie industry, wrote in a post on X. "We have an opportunity to pass a major federal film tax credit. I'm ready to work with this administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get it done."

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Ultimately, Trump’s assertion that he will tariff movies made abroad appears to be his latest attack on the media industry, which he’s punished by using his powers as president.

Trump has extracted what basically amount to ransom payments from media companies like ABC and CBS, which were seemingly afraid that being on Trump’s bad side could be catastrophic for their businesses.

Trump also tried to get ABC’s late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel canceled. Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended before ABC brought him back amid backlash from consumers, many of whom canceled their subscriptions to streaming platforms in protest.

It’s unclear if Trump’s movie tariff will ever go into effect. But if it does, it’s unlikely to be popular.

A new YouGov/Economist poll finds that 43% of Americans believe tariffs should be decreased. And 71% say that Trump’s tariffs have increased prices, including 44% who say they’ve increased prices “a lot.”

Given that Trump was elected in large part because voters thought he’d bring prices down, any move he make that does the opposite could have negative political consequences for his party.  

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