Don’t Panic about Trump’s Threat to BC Film Industry, Eby Says

B.C. Premier David Eby described U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekend threats of a 100 per cent tariff on movies made outside the United States as ludicrous and unworkable.

Eby said the province will continue to stand up for people who work in the film and television industry.

“To the folks in the film industry, don’t panic,” Eby said Monday morning. “The president tweets a lot of stuff. The implementation challenges of this are profound and [it’s] hard to understand exactly how this would work. The industry is strong and growing in British Columbia.”

On Sunday afternoon Trump posted on Truth Social that “the movie industry in America is DYING a very fast death.”

Trump accused other countries of drawing filmmakers and studios away from the United States and said the “concerted effort by other nations” was a national security threat.

“I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100 per cent tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands,” he wrote. “We want movies made in America, again!”

Trump’s post kicked off a round of news coverage and much speculation on what exactly would be included as a foreign-made movie.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick responded on X, “We’re on it.”

By Monday morning, however, multiple news outlets were reporting that a White House spokesperson was telling reporters “no final decision” had been made, while the administration is “exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive.”

Vancouver is the third-largest centre for film and television production in North America, behind only Los Angeles and New York.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim released a statement calling Trump’s threat unwarranted and unjustified.

“This proposed tariff doesn’t just hurt Canadian cities like Vancouver,” said Sim. “It threatens the strength and resiliency of an entire industry, especially in the United States, that thrives on collaboration. We should be working together to create jobs, support talent, and build on our shared success. Not creating friction between neighbours and allies.”

“The president’s proposal is incredibly hard to understand,” said Eby. “Try to imagine, as an American, an option for two versions of Netflix, one where you get just a handful of productions, the other where you pay $50 a month or $100 a month and you get to see what everyone else in the world gets to see.”

Films and television shows are now delivered in ways that would make it difficult to apply a tax like the one Trump is proposing, Eby said. “To say the implementation would be challenging is an understatement. We don’t watch DVDs anymore.”

“When they create the films, they’re broadcast around the world, they create intellectual property, all of which is exempt from tariffs unless it’s put on a DVD and shipped across the border, so it’s hard to know how this specific proposal would work,” Eby said.

If the United States does find a way to apply such a tax, B.C. will “stand with the film industry around the world to make sure that we are protecting the rights of Americans to see what they want to see, which includes high-quality productions filmed right here in Canada.”

Eby mentioned Shōgun and the next season of The Last of Us as popular shows being filmed in the province. “We’re proud of the work that we do here, everything from the amazing Hallmark movies right up to the big-budget productions,” he said.

The B.C. government’s website cites figures from Creative BC that the industry generated $2.7 billion in gross domestic product in 2022, though that amount dipped the next year as global production dropped amid the Writers Guild of America strike. Ahead of the strike there were some 37,000 jobs in the industry in the province.

In 2023-24, B.C. provided more than $900 million in film and television tax credits, and the current year’s budget raised the amount of credits available.

“There is no question that the president is threatening people who work in industries across British Columbia and across Canada,” said Eby. “His stated intent is to beggar our economy so that we become the 51st state.”

B.C. won’t let Trump do that, Eby said. “We’ll stand strong for the film industry, the softwood lumber industry, for all the industries in British Columbia, and make sure that we’re expanding markets internationally and ensuring that jobs are strong.”

Since returning to office in January, Trump has threatened various countries and industries with tariffs. He has followed through on some of these threats. Ones in place affecting Canadian products include 10 per cent on energy and potash, 25 per cent on steel and aluminum and 25 per cent on automobiles.

Eby predicted that Trump’s policies will eventually generate a political backlash for the president that could make the 2026 U.S. midterm elections difficult for Trump’s Republican party.

“We know as shelves empty out throughout the United States and all of a sudden Americans have access to half the TV shows and movies that they used to have access to, that there will be a shift in how the United States is governed because people won’t stand for that,” he said.