Catenaa, Monday, May 05, 2025- US media stocks fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on foreign produced films imported to the country.
Media stocks such as Netflix fell by over 1.4%, Warner Bros by 0.8% and Paramount Global fell by over 0.9%, while Disney recorded a gain of 0.4% by 2 in the afternoon as S&P 500 slid roughly 0.2%, eyeing a cooldown from its longest winning streak in over 20 years.
The market reaction comes after Trump directed his administration late Sunday to impose “a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands,” sending shockwaves through an industry still reeling from the pandemic shutdown and the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.”
Earlier this year, Trump appointed a trio of actors — Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone, and Mel Gibson — as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood. He introduced the initiative in January, describing Hollywood as “a great but very troubled place.”
S&P 500 had recorded a gain of 2.65% in the last five trading days as investors saw a cooling off of the trade war with China as there were reports of the US reaching out for talks with China on reducing the tariffs.
