A set decorator carries a Christmas tree to create a winter snow scene during the filming of the movie “Hocus Pocus Christmas” on April 16, 2024, in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. Photo: DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images
Entertainment industry stocks retreated Monday as investors feared the impact of President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on foreign-made movies.
- But several key stocks pared their losses as the White House signaled that the plan hasn’t been firmed up.
Why it matters: It was not immediately clear how or whether Trump could follow through with his 100% duties on films made outside the U.S. — but investors nonetheless winced.
The impact: Lionsgate Studios (-5.8%), Netflix (-1.3%) and Paramount (-0.9%) saw the biggest declines in early afternoon trading, though all three had rebounded from earlier lows.
- Disney opened down 3% before reversing to a small gain, while WBD also pared early losses and was trading down around 0.6% by early afternoon.
Zoom in: “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,” Trump said Sunday in a Truth Social post.
- “This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
- Trump said he’d direct the secretary of commerce and the U.S. trade representative to implement the tariff on “any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
Yes, but: The White House clarified Monday that “no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Hollywood Reporter.
- But “the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” he added.
