Academy Award-winning actor John Voight admitted he played a significant role in the movie tariffs President Donald Trump authorized on movies made outside the U.S.
The president said Monday he is authorizing the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative move forward in enacting a 100% tariff on American films that are produced in “foreign lands.”
Voight released a video on X about the tariff came about.
“I recently met with our president, Donald J. Trump, who loves the entertainment business,” Voight said. “[He] wants to see Hollywood thrive and make films bigger and greater than ever before, as he says, and see productions come back to American Hollywood. The Hollywood that I fell in love with when I was a child and was honored to contribute to during my career. Our industry recently has suffered greatly over these past few years and many Americans have lost jobs to productions that have gone overseas. It’s been very serious. People have people have lost their homes. Can’t feed their families.”
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He continued by listing what can be done to help the industry.
“After meeting with many of the entertainment leaders, I have brought forward recommendations to the president for certain tax provisions that can help the industry. Some provisions that could be extended and others that could be revived or instituted. This would help the movie and television production and our beloved theaters that are so important to the American family experience,” Voight said.
Voight and his business partner Steven Paul sent out a press release further explaining the tariff, which includes a combination of federal tax incentives, tax code changes, co-production treaties, and infrastructure subsidies for theater owners, production, and postproduction companies, per the Hollywood Reporter.
The press release calls for “tariffs in certain limited circumstances,” not the 100% in Trump’s announcement.
Trump posted his thoughts on the matter on X.
“Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” Trump wrote. “This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
