Statement on President Trump’s Proposed Tariffs on Foreign Production

US President Trump’s announcement that he plans to introduce a 100% tariff on all movies produced outside of the United States has led to confusion, concern and much speculation in the global film & television production industry. No-one is sure sure how serious President Trump is, where this idea came from or what its ultimate goal is.

Equally important, no-one knows how a tariff like this would even be implemented given that films and television shows are considered services (not goods) and are therefor not subject to tariffs. That means there is no system in place to even collect tariffs on these products. 

All we do know is that if this were to come to pass the economic impacts on the global production industry, including US production, would be massive and devastating.

The development, production & distribution of films & television series is a complex business that will often see creators, producers & crew in multiple countries working on a single production, sometimes with production done in one place and post-production in another. Regardless of where shows are made, though, international sales are key to the business’s success. All of which would be disrupted in a way that could have as negative an impact on American studios, producers & crew as it does on Canadian and international ones. This is as true for Saskatchewan’s producers and crew as it is for those in any other province or country.

What is ScreenSask Doing About This?

Over the past two days I’ve been in touch with representatives of government, Creative Saskatchewan, the CMPA, Unions and Guilds and my counterparts across the country. What I can tell you is that everyone is working together to provide a united front against this proposal. ScreenSask is working alongside our national and provincial partners to support these efforts in any way we can.

CMPA, Union & Guild leadership have been working with experts and consultants to ensure that Prime Minister Carney and his team are well aware and prepared to discuss our concerns with President Trump when they meet today. There are also conversations being had at the highest level with US studios, production associations and government to ensure everyone is aligned in their understanding of the risks this idea poses to everyone, including the US industry.

For our part, I can assure you that ScreenSask continues to work hard to advocate for funding and support to build capacity in Saskatchewan’s film & television industry, create opportunities for training and development and help our members create and sell their productions world wide.

It’s clear that now, more than ever, we need to develop our industry in Saskatchewan as a trade & export industry with a focus on global trade.

Towards that, we continue to advocate for positive changes to the Feature Film & Television Production Grant that would make Saskatchewan’s production, post-production and production services companies more competitive.

We’re advocating for stable funding that would support the training & development of crews & creative talent.

We’re advocating for more dollars to support script and concept development.

And we’re organizing as many workshops and events as we can, with the dollars we have, to build capacity, build skills and build community.

What Can You Do?

Stay informed.

If you are a member of CMPA, a Union or Guild watch for statements and calls to action from them. CMPA and IATSE have posted statements to their websites, while other organizations have sent statements directly to their membership. The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Playback and Globe and Mail are providing strong analysis of this situation.

Read ScreenSask’s Strategy to Grow The Industry

ScreenSask’s Board of Directors recently adopted a new Strategic Plan to take us through to 2028. Central to that plan is a sector development strategy designed to create 1,000 film & television jobs by 2028. We can turn our small but mighty film industry into a trade & export powerhouse that generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Please, take a moment to read it. 

Join Us

Help us in our efforts, if you have the time and ability. Attend the ScreenSask Summit on May 22nd. Support our work by becoming a sponsor, or by buying an ad in our newsletter. Encourage your peers and colleagues to become a member. And give us your feedback on what you think we can do better.

If we work together, we can seize the possibilities this industry has to grow.

Yours truly,

Robert Hardy
Executive Director
ScreenSask