Australia and New Zealand vowed to advocate for their film industries on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced a plan to impose 100 per cent tariffs on foreign-made films.
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Australia and New Zealand have emerged as popular filming locations for Hollywood films in recent years, given lower costs and tax incentives from federal and state governments.
Earlier, Trump said in a social media post that it was due to incentives offered by other countries to lure filmmakers that the American movie industry was dying a “very fast death”.
He said he was authorising the relevant government agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, to immediately begin the process of imposing a 100 per cent tariff on all films produced abroad that are then sent into the United States.
Australia’s home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said he had spoken to the head of government body Screen Australia, which offers funding to support the development, production and marketing of screen content, about the proposed tariffs.
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“Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry,” Burke said in a statement.