Lights, Camera, Tariffs: Trade war comes to the red carpet as Trump targets foreign films

Donald Trump's threat of tariffs on foreign-made films risks stoking tensions between the European and American film industries and dominating conversations at the Cannes film festival this week.

The US president has added a trade war to the sector's list of concerns that already included competition from streaming platforms.

The already tricky commercial outlook for big-screen owners and film producers darkened considerably last Sunday when Trump said he wanted 100-percent tariffs on movies "produced in foreign lands".

Even if most observers think the proposal is unworkable, it risks destabilising an industry that is highly globalised and depends on open trade.

"It'll be one of the big issues in Cannes," said Eric Marti from US-based media measurement agency Comscore.

He said statements from another American leader -- the co-CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos -- had also focused minds.

Sarandos said recently that cinema-going was "an outmoded idea for most people", pointing to the fact that audience numbers worldwide have not rebounded since the Covid pandemic.

The festival in Cannes from Tuesday will see directors, actors and distributors try to make sense of Trump's intentions and those of his Hollywood advisors, actors Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone.

"We're a bit perplexed," Marti told AFP. "We don't know how it's going to work in practice."

Extortion?

Trump's tariff salvo is part of a picture of growing tension between Europe and the US over the film and TV industries since the former reality TV star returned to the White House in January.

As part of his ultra-nationalist "Make America Great Again" agenda, Trump's Republican administration also has EU regulations that protect and promote European cinema in its crosshairs.

The regulations take many forms but typically include measures such as taxing cinema tickets to fund independent filmmakers, quotas for European or non-English-language productions, or forcing major studios to fund domestic productions.

In France, American streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon and Disney have to invest in French-language films or series in order to operate in the country.

In a February 21 memo, Trump took aim at what he called "overseas extortion", with a particular mention of laws that "require American streaming services to fund local productions".

American film industry groups such as the Motion Picture Association and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) have also lobbied the Trump administration to protest against European regulations.

A group of leading French film figures, including "Emilia Perez" director and Cannes winner Jacques Audiard, fired back with an open letter to the DGA last month.

"At a time when the gap between the United States and the rest of the world is widening, we believe it is more important than ever for European and American filmmakers to remain united," they wrote.

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati vowed last week to defend French films "whatever the cost", noting that "on the other side of the Atlantic, powerful players in this industry are hostile to the French cultural exception".

Critics

Cannes has always championed independent arthouse films but it also reserves part of its programme to Hollywood blockbusters made by major American studios to attract audiences.

This year will see Tom Cruise return for the world premiere of the latest and last instalment of his "Mission: Impossible" series, three years after he lit up the Riviera while promoting "Top Gun: Maverick".

While he can be expected to steer clear of politics and controversy, there will be plenty of Trump critics in attendance.

"Taxi Driver" star Robert De Niro, who is set to receive an honorary Palme d'Or, is one of the most outspoken, often struggling to find words harsh enough to condemn Trump.

Fellow New Yorker Spike Lee, who will present his film "Highest 2 Lowest" with Denzel Washington, raged against him in Cannes on 2018 after Trump refused to denounce violent far-right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Last year, festival organisers also selected "The Apprentice" in competition, a deeply unflattering portrait of Trump and his early real estate career featuring "Succession" star Jeremy Strong.

Trump's lawyers called the film "garbage" and "pure malicious defamation" when it came out on the eve of last November's presidential election.

Strong is set to return to Cannes this year as a jury member.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com