The Scottish Government has said it will do “all it can” to protect Scotland’s film and TV sector after Donald Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on non-US movies.
Scotland has become a major destination for filmmakers looking for the backdrop to their next Hollywood blockbuster – but a social media message from the US president sent ripples across the pond.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he has authorised government departments to impose a 100% tariff “on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands”.
The full post read: “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the USA, are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!
“Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
In response, the Scottish Government has said it will do all it can to “minimize the risk to the screen sector”.
While the UK Government has said it’s committed to ensuring film and tv sector’s can continue to thrive, adding that talks on an economic deal between the US and the UK are ongoing.
“There has to be a mutual interest in supporting the screen sector in Scotland, and supporting the screen sector in the United States”, the MSP Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Angus Robertson, said.
STV News“And I really, really hope that we don’t see damaging decisions move forward. But we’re going to look very closely at the detail of what might be proposed.
“And we will be doing everything we can to minimize the risk to the screen sector and its successful growth for the years ahead.”
Those who make movies are left wondering what the president’s plan to target movies not made in the USA actually means.
The UK is among the countries offering filmmakers generous tax incentives.
In the last five years, Glasgow has served as New York and Gotham for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Batman, Edinburgh provided the backdrop for the Netflix adaptation of One Day, whilst Aberdeen was the setting for cold war thriller Tetris.
Blockbusters are welcome – but there are concerns any tariff could block smaller independent productions from reaching the US audience.
“I mean, it is quite interesting that he [Donald Trump] said it just as Cannes Film Festival is coming up, where it’s going to be a huge market”, Nikki Parrott from Tigerlily Productions said.
STV News“People are doing co-productions, they’re going to be looking to get money from the States. The States are going to be looking to get money from the UK with our big tax incentives.
“You know, for indie films, it’s hard enough to get an American distributor at the moment anyway. And to put tariffs on that, it’s just going to be impossible for us to distribute in the States, which again means the audiences in the States aren’t going to get interested in films.”
Scottish actor Brian Cox, 78, said that Trump’s administration is “not really understanding the point of view of how films are made, and what films cost, (how) the cost of films (has) gone up and the cost of films in America went up considerably”.
“So it’s not quite right to say Hollywood’s being ignored, things have moved on, it’s become nationwide in America,” he added.
“It’s a kind of nonsense and a divine ignorance on all their parts.”
Cox said that US films have “moved” in a different direction towards other cities such as Atlanta, and away from the previous hub of Los Angeles.
He added: “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% tariff on my film would be a disaster, an absolute disaster.”
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