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See the full story · 5 sourcesUS President Donald Trump in 2025 floated a 100 per cent tariff on foreign-produced films, but that idea met resistance from some in Hollywood.
Listen Summarise President Trump proposed a federal tax credit to revive Hollywood film and TV production in the US and create entertainment jobs. Actor Jon Voight was named a special ambassador to help bring film production back to America, promoting expanded tax incentives. Industry groups support extending tax deductions and credits to encourage domestic production amid rising overseas filming due to cheaper costs and foreign subsidies. AI generated
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump called for a federal tax credit to benefit the movie and television industry, saying it would help bring the production of Hollywood blockbusters back to the US.
“Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America. It can be done quickly, accurately, efficiently and, importantly, will benefit ALL of America,” Trump said in a social media post.
“What we watch on the Silver Screen should be made in what was once the Movie and Motion Picture Capital of the World.”
The president said his idea came out of a meeting with actor Jon Voight.
Trump named Voight to be a special ambassador to Hollywood in early 2025 and tasked him with the job of bringing back film production to the US.
Trump in 2025 floated a 100 per cent tariff on foreign-produced films, but that idea met resistance from some in Hollywood, who countered with plans for expanded tax subsidies instead.
Voight has been leading one push for expanded tax incentives meant to support domestic film and TV production.
Supporters argue the incentives would encourage more domestic production, countering a recent shift as entertainment companies pared spending and moved production overseas to countries with cheaper labour and more generous government support.
Hollywood has a long history of mimicking the world on its sound stages.
Rick’s cafe and the streets of Casablanca were shot not in Morocco but on a 1940s sound stage in Burbank, California, while much of the fictional African nation of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther came to life in and around Atlanta.
Yet tax credits especially from Britain and Canada have increasingly lured many domestic productions abroad.
For example, Walt Disney Co’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the biggest grossing movie of 2026 to date, filmed its New York City scenes in Glasgow, Scotland.
Trump did not detail specifics of his plan, but groups representing more than 400,000 industry professionals in 2025 encouraged the revival and extension of the tax code’s Sec 199 deductions for manufacturing so they apply to film and TV production, as well as an extension of accelerated deductions under Sec 181.
They also recommended restoring a tax provision allowing businesses to use past losses to reduce future taxes. BLOOMBERG
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