Trump Imposes 100% Tariff on Foreign Movies

New York, Sep 29 (PTI) The President of the United States, Donald Trump, on Monday announced 100 per cent tariffs on movies made outside the country, in a move likely to impact the Indian film industry.

“Our movie-making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing 'candy from a baby',” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.

Trump said California has been particularly “hard hit” because of this, blaming democrat Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, for this loss, calling him “weak and incompetent.”

“To solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100 per cent Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States,” Trump added.

The decision is likely to have an adverse impact on the Indian film industry, as the US is one of the leading markets for Indian movies due to a large Indian diaspora in the country.

India produces movies in several languages, which are popular among the diverse Indian diaspora in the US.

According to a 2017 Forbes report, Indian language films have become big business in many places across the United States and Canada.

Indian movies' earnings are "commonly exceeding USD 8 million and occasionally topping USD 10 million," the report added.

Indian filmmakers and North American distributors and exhibitors alike cater well to this audience. At any given time, over 1,000 movie screens in the territory may be dedicated to showing Indian films, the report added.

There has been a significant rise in the collections of Indian movies in the US since then, experts say.

Meanwhile, President Trump has also decided to impose "substantial tariffs" on furniture imports.

"In order to make North Carolina, which has completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries, GREAT again, I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States. Details to follow," Trump posted on social media.

The move comes days after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on pharmaceutical products.

Starting October 2025, the US will be imposing a 100 per cent tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product, unless a company is building their pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in America, Trump said in a social media post.

Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) on Friday said US President Donald Trump's move to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs from October 1 will impact only patented and branded products, not generic medicines.

The Trump administration has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including a 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, among the highest tariff rates imposed on any country in the world.

India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics. India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion (USD 86.5 billion exports).

The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country's total merchandise trade.

A delegation led by Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal was in New York last week for meetings with the US side.

The two countries had hoped to conclude the first tranche of a Bilateral Trade Agreement by October-November of 2025. The pact is aimed at more than doubling the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the current USD 191 billion.

A team of officials from the office of the US Trade Representative also visited India on September 16 to discuss various aspects of the trade deal, and decided to intensify efforts in this regard.