George Clooney Fires Back At Trump’s 100% Film Tariff Threat – Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)

Actor and filmmaker George Clooney pushed back on President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat on Friday, arguing that federal tax incentives — not penalties — are the real way to keep jobs in the American film industry.

Clooney Backs Trump On Hollywood Job Churn, But Blames Lack Of Tax Incentives

Clooney said Trump is right that movie industry jobs have been leaving California, but he blamed the lack of competitive incentives compared to other states, according to Reuters.

He spoke about this in London ahead of the annual Albies awards ceremony, which he co-founded with his wife, Amal, to honor global human rights defenders.

“We don’t have proper tax incentives or rebates like you do in New York,” Clooney said, adding that if Trump “wants to implement a federal incentive, that would match the kinds of incentives we get in Louisiana and New Jersey and New York, then I think that would make a big difference in helping out.”

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Trump Threatens 100% Film Tariff

Trump has reiterated his vow to impose a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the U.S., stating that the American movie industry has been “stolen” by other countries.

In a Truth Social post this week, he said that California had been “particularly hard hit” by foreign competition, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) of failing to protect the industry.

California is home to major studios like Paramount Pictures, owned by Paramount Skydance Corp (NASDAQ:PSKY), Comcast Corp’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Co.’s (NYSE:DIS) Walt Disney Studios.

It remains unclear whether the tariffs would apply to movies made for streaming services like Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) or just theatrical releases.

Industry Reaction And Economic Concerns

In May, when Trump first announced plans to meet with Hollywood executives to discuss his proposal for a levy, economist Peter Schiff warned that such tariffs would ultimately raise costs for Netflix subscribers and moviegoers.

“Trump announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside of the U.S. But movies aren’t physical goods that come across the border in a way that a tariff can be applied,” Schiff said at the time. “This would be some new kind of federal excise tax on Americans who watch movies filmed abroad.”

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has previously argued that the streaming service “saved Hollywood,” though he acknowledged the traditional theater model may no longer dominate.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings rank Netflix’s growth in the 84th percentile, highlighting its performance relative to top industry peers, such as Disney and Paramount.