How Trump’s tariffs mean some of your favourite films from Star Wars to Barbie would NOT be made in Britain in future
WIELDING a red lightsaber, US President Donald Trump threatened to cut Britain’s film industry to shreds.
It is ironic then, that all the Star Wars movies were made over here, thanks to the kind of creative minds that are found nowhere else in the galaxy.
The President posted an AI-generated image of himself on Sunday in a Jedi-style robe and with the muscles of Conan the Barbarian as he clutched the saber.
He followed it by announcing a 100 per cent tariff on all foreign-made films brought into the United States — potentially destroying what is one of Britain’s most successful industries.
Succession actor Brian Cox said last night: “I’ve just directed my first movie with a very modest budget in Scotland. We don’t make a lot of films in Scotland.
“And the idea of a 100 per cent tariff on my film would be a disaster, an absolute disaster.”
The movie and TV business employs around a quarter of a million people in the UK, with 80,000 involved directly in production.
That is almost double what it was a decade ago, and studios are expanding all the time to cope with demand.
In January, Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire announced plans to construct more sound stages, the buildings in which films are made.
Meanwhile, a US firm is completing £500million studios near Reading, and Warner Bros is expanding its Leavesden Studio complex in Hertfordshire again.
Honorary Brit
Directors cannot get enough of our on-screen talent, with British actors Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland taking lead roles in superhero movies Batman and Spider-Man respectively.
Our behind-the-scenes crews are equally cherished.
The hit musical Wicked, which was made in the UK, won both best costume design and production design at this year’s Oscars.
And if you want to top the box office, it’s best to come here.
Eight out of the ten top-grossing movies of the past decade were made in Britain, including Barbie in 2023 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Both of them topped a billion dollars globally.
Tom Cruise spends so much time here making films he could almost be an honorary Brit.
His latest Mission: Impossible blockbuster, The Final Reckoning — out this month — was made at Longcross Studios in Surrey, and he has often been spotted around the country performing his death-defying stunts.
I’ve been making films in the UK for over 40 years and have no plans to stop
Tom Cruise
In March he said: “I’ve been making films in the UK for over 40 years and have no plans to stop.
“The UK is home to incredibly talented professionals — actors, dir- ectors, writers, and crews, as well as some of the most stunning locations in the world.”
Profits from Tom’s latest £300 million action flick would take a massive hit if Trump was to bring in those tariffs straight away.
Last year, £4.8billion was spent on film and TV productions in the UK by overseas firms — that’s 86 per cent of the output.
Take it away and the industry would face collapse.
Matt Mueller, editor-in-chief of the film industry magazine Screen International, told The Sun: “If Donald Trump carried through with 100 per cent tariffs on foreign films it would be a disaster for the UK film industry.”
If Donald Trump carried through with 100 per cent tariffs on foreign films it would be a disaster for the UK film industry
Matt Mueller
The Americans don’t want the tariffs either. Shares in US media companies such as Disney and Netflix dropped in the wake of Trump’s shock announcement.
So, to adapt his best-known mantra, why does the US President think tariffs will Make Hollywood Great Again?
His announcement followed a meeting with veteran actor Jon Voight, 86-year-old star of 1969 film Midnight Cowboy and estranged father to Angelina Jolie.
He is one of three Special Ambassadors to Hollywood appointed by the President to try to rescue the US film industry.
After receiving recommendations from the actor, the president said that foreign movies were a threat to “national security”.
It is hard to imagine what damage Paddington In Peru could do to the world’s greatest superpower.
But as with many of Trump’s pronouncements there is a kernel of truth in it.
On his Truth Social website on Monday, Trump wrote: “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death.”
Indeed, film production in Los Angeles has fallen 40 per cent in a decade as Hollywood’s power fades.
And one of the reasons business is going elsewhere is that other parts of the world are offering tax incentives.
Britain, Australia and Canada all have deals to tempt productions to their shores.
The UK government offers film studios a 25.5 per cent tax relief for live-action feature films and 29.25 per cent for animated feature films.
US studios have taken advantage of incentives from abroad, with the likes of Amazon and Netflix setting up camp here, taking over Shepperton and Pinewood studios
Matt Mueller
The 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion, the most expensive movie ever made, at £453million, benefited to the tune of £89million.
The reality is that it is too expensive to make many films in the US, and they simply will not go into production if the funding is not available abroad.
That would mean fewer movies available to US audiences, and job losses in cinemas.
Matt explained: “US studios have taken advantage of incentives from abroad, with the likes of Amazon and Netflix setting up camp here, taking over Shepperton and Pinewood studios.
“But it is not just the incentives, it is much cheaper to make films here than in the US and we don’t have such powerful unions as they do in the US. If studios were forced to bring all production back to the US they would have to reduce output. That would mean fewer movies in cinemas.
“It is completely shooting the industry in the foot.”
The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death
Trump on his Truth Social
US film producer Bill Mechanic, chairman of production company Pandemonium Films, went further.
He told US entertainment magazine Deadline that Trump is “the guy lighting the fire to burn down Hollywood, not the one putting it out.”
The movie industry’s dire straits have a lot more to do with America than any other nation.
Already in a fragile position after cinemas were forced to close during Covid lockdowns, the business has been hit by US-made problems.
First there were the actors’ and screen writers’ union strikes in 2023 which halted productions both in America and abroad.
Cinemas have also struggled since American streaming companies such as Disney and Apple decided to release some movies only on TV.
And now there is the threat from US-owned artificial intelligence firms.
All those setbacks have hit UK film industry workers.
According to a survey by the creative industries’ union Bectu, last summer more than half of our film and TV workforce were out of work.
Union chief Philippa Childs said: “These tariffs, coming after Covid and the recent slowdown, could deal a knockout blow to an industry that is only just recovering.
“The Government must defend this vital sector, as a matter of essential national economic interest.” Many industry ex- perts think Trump’s plans are unworkable.
Defining what is a “foreign-made” film will be very difficult, because most movies are co-productions from different countries using international locations, casts and crews.
The first Star Wars film in 1977 was made by a US director and producers, with Anglo-American actors working in Britain alongside the British crew creating key elements such as the Stormtrooper outfits.
Screen International’s Matt said: “There is a lot of confusion about what Trump said.
“A lot of big US films are co- productions with the UK. Would he really place tariffs on Wicked, a film made by the US studio Universal in the UK?
“Would that qualify as a US production in his eyes, or a UK one?”
On American TV’s The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon poked fun at how impractical Trump’s tariffs would be.
He joked: “Gonna be fun seeing the next Lord Of The Rings filmed in Bayonne, New Jersey.
“If you don’t like that, you can also watch Emily In Des Moines. It’s just as charming.”
With any luck Trump will realise there is no trade imbalance with the UK film sector. Our surplus with the US is just one per cent.
And the fact remains that Americans love a good movie just as much as we do — wherever it is made.