Spectrum News 1: California lawmakers react to Trump admin proposal of tariffs on foreign films
When President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that he wanted to tax foreign made films, it caught California Democrats off guard.
"I was actually very glad to see the president acknowledge that we're losing one of our signature industries, the film and television industry. It's been something that people in Los Angeles have noticed for years, because we've seen the lack of production and the impacts that it has on our local economy with failing businesses, people moving out of the state because there's not enough work to sustain them," said Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Calif., whose district encompasses Burbank, home to Disney and Warner Bros. studios.
But most Democrats are taking Trump's suggestion as an unserious one.
"It just seems like another random idea that he put out there with no thought about how it would actually be implemented," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who helped pass legislation while serving in the California State Assembly to give films a tax break and encourage domestic production. Lieu suggested that if Trump's proposal were to go into effect, it would increase consumer costs on movies.
"Also, it would just make some movies really far less interesting, right? If 'All quiet on the Western Front' had to be renamed 'All Quiet on the U.S. side of the Canadian border,' much less interesting movie," he quipped.
"It's about tax incentives and not tariffs. All that these tariffs are going to do are drive up the cost of movies and drive up the cost of our streaming services and actually blow up the remaining production that is happening in Los Angeles and scatter it to other places around the globe," argued Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif. "I need the president to stop doing this and to talk to the stakeholders that are in these industries and listen to them."
Democrats are hoping that rather than a vague proposal to tax foreign films, they can convince the president to consider a federal tax credit.
"I'm already negotiating and talking to my colleagues about having a national film tax credit to help all of our states that have film production, and there's a lot of them. And I welcome those conversations with the administration," Friedman said.
"I'm willing to work with the president. The question is, is the president willing to work with me? Is the president willing to work with California? We want America to produce again. I want California and Los Angeles to produce again. We have amazing talent, ee have hard working, workers, and hard working talent. We have all of the assets across our hands," Kamlager-Dove said. "What we don't want are tariffs that are vague."
Gov. Gavin Newsom has suggested that the Trump administration consider a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit program modeled after the California program that has a proven track record of success. The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation reports that between July 2015 and June 2020, the tax credit contributed almost $21.9 billion in economic output over five years, supporting more than 110,000 total jobs (includes direct, indirect and induced) in California.
"America continues to be a film powerhouse, and California is all in to bring more production here. Building on our successful state program, we’re eager to partner with the Trump administration to further strengthen domestic production and Make America Film Again," Newsom said in a statement.
We have reached out to the White House for comment on Newsom's proposal, but have not heard back.