Independent workers of the United Kingdom film industry could finish unemployed if Donald Trump applies a 100% tariff to non -American films, a producer warned.
The president of the United States announced on Sunday that he has authorized government departments to impose the rate “in each and every one of the films that enter our country that occur in foreign lands.”
Industry figures have warned that plans “could give a knockout blow” to the United Kingdom cinematographic sector.
Kirsty Bell, executive director of the Goldfinch producer, said the entertainment industry is in decline “worldwide,” but said that tariffs are not the answer.
She told the AP news agency: “The problem is not that foreign films are having priority over national films, first, the films are cheaper to do abroad, due to the lack of fiscal credits in certain places … the unions, the lowest cost of work and the purchase budgets have been drastically reduced for two years, all driven by the change in visual habits.
“People do not go to the cinema and decrease both in subscription services and the increase in social media platforms and content creators … the industry has changed completely.”
She added: “The answer is not the tariffs if he is (from Trump) trying to start the industry in Hollywood. He is developing an ecosystem for the realization of films that is completely different from what has been before.
“There are seismic changes in the way in which the entertainment industry is structured that needs to happen.”
Mrs. Bell questioned how the rate would work and said that the box office successes such as Barbie, which was distributed by the American film study Warner Bros Pictures, “was actually filmed in the United Kingdom.”
“If those American films do not occur or produce partially in the United Kingdom, independent workers will be unemployed. I tell you now, they will really be unemployed,” he said.
It occurs after a report by the Culture, Media and Sports Committee (CMS) on British cinema and high -end television, published last month, warned that the “predominantly independent workforce” of the industry needs more government support when they are not working.
The president of the CMS, Dame Caroline Dinenage, said that the members “warned against the complacency of our status as Hollywood of Europe.”
“President Trump's announcement has made this warning too real,” he added.
“Make it more difficult to make films in the United Kingdom is not of interest to American companies. Their investment in facilities and talent in the United Kingdom, based on the IP (intellectual property) owned by the United States, is showing fantastic yields on both sides of the Atlantic. Ministers must urgently prioritize this as part of commercial negotiations currently on the way.
“At the same time, the next plan of the Government's creative industries must face the challenge we establish from encouraging internal investment while increasing our national sector so that the British film and high -end television can prosper.”
The recent CMS committee report said that the United Kingdom's high -end television industry is “dominated” by the internal investment of US studies and that this “brings important economic and social benefits to the United Kingdom.”
Ben Charles Edwards, co -founder of the Dreamtown production company, told Pa for any tariffs will be “a direct blow to the storytelling and acemso of the cinema.”
“Good films do not recognize borders, and I think these rates will punish the diversity that, of course, feeds the original narrative,” he said.
“It will affect the rest of the world. It will affect the filmmakers. It will affect the independent film, in theory, depending on how these rates are formed, but it will affect Hollywood, and will affect the US culture.”
Philippa Childs, head of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theater (Bectu) union, said the United Kingdom industry “is only recovering” from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, when many productions were delayed or canceled.
“These tariffs, which come after Covid and the recent slowdown, could hit an industry that is only recovering and will be really worrying news for tens of thousands of independent workers who make films in the United Kingdom,” he said.
“The government must move quickly to defend this vital sector and support independent workers who promote it, as a matter of essential national economic interest.”
Tariffs are taxes charged for goods imported from other countries. It is not clear how a tariff on international productions could be implemented and if such tariff would also apply to American film companies that produce films abroad.
Trump's last announcement is part of an current commercial war after placing tariffs up to 145% in Chinese products.
The United States film and television production has been hindered in recent years, with Covid pandemic setbacks, Hollywood guild attacks of 2023 and recent forest fires in the Los Angeles area.
The United Kingdom's film industry has also faced pandemic setbacks and US attacks.
A government spokesman said: “Conversations on an economic agreement between the US and the United Kingdom are ongoing, but we will not provide a continuous comment on the details of live discussions or establish any period because it is not of national interest.
“We will continue to adopt a quiet and stable approach to conversations and intend to find a resolution to help relieve pressure on companies and consumers in the United Kingdom.”
Adrian Wootton, executive director of the British Film Commission, said: “While this announcement is clearly worrying, we need to understand the details surrounding the proposed tariffs. We will meet with the government and our group of industry policies in the next few days to discuss more thoroughly.”
