China Retaliates Against US Tariffs by Curbing Hollywood Movie Imports

Trump dismissed Beijing’s retaliation, saying ‘I think I’ve heard of worse things.’

A woman walks past a poster for the movie "Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning," at a bus stop in Beijing on July 21, 2023. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

China’s communist regime is retaliating against U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods by restricting imports of Hollywood films, a move dismissed by President Donald Trump.

The Chinese regime’s National Film Administration announced on its website on April 10 that it would “moderately reduce” the number of U.S. movies allowed into the Chinese market, claiming that the Chinese audience’s interest in them “will inevitably be reduced” following the escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

Trump was asked about his reaction to the Chinese regime’s retaliatory move against American films, while fielding questions from reporters on Thursday.

“I think I’ve heard of worse things,” Trump responded.

As of April 11, the Trump administration’s tariffs against Chinese goods totalled 145 percent, and Beijing retaliated with 125 percent tariffs on U.S. goods.

China, home to the world’s second-largest film market, allows only 34 foreign films to be screened annually.

Chris Fenton, author of “Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business,” said restricting Hollywood films was a “super high-profile way to make a statement of retaliation with almost zero downside for China.”

U.S.-made films account for only 5 percent of overall box office receipts in the Chinese market, Fenton said. And Hollywood studios receive only 25 percent of ticket sales in China, compared with double that in other markets, Fenton added.

Fenton said China’s move will “surely be noticed by Washington.”

Seth Shafer, principal analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan, estimated that China’s restrictions would have a limited impact.

“Only roughly 25 percent of domestic wide-release films are now released in China, and that percentage has dropped steadily over time due to increasing competition from China’s local film production industry,” Shafer said.

“For domestic films that do get a release in China, typically less than 10 percent of the film’s global gross box office revenue comes from China.”

Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” took in about $47 million in China out of nearly $1.7 billion in global receipts, according to Box Office Mojo.

Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World” earned only about $14.4 million in China, out of $413 million worldwide.

Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” is the only foreign film on China’s all-time top-20 box office list, while the other 19 are all domestic productions.

Foreign film releases are rejected or approved by the National Film Administration, which operates under Beijing’s propaganda department.

In 2020, New York-based rights group PEN America released a report saying that China had leveraged the allure of its vast film market to get Hollywood studios to censor or alter movies—either through direct censorship requests or increasingly through voluntary self-censorship.

“Beijing has sent a clear message to the filmmaking world, that filmmakers who criticize China will be punished, but that those who play ball with its censorship strictures will be rewarded,” the report states.

The report cited a notable instance from the 2013 zombie film “World War Z,” where a scene was altered to eliminate the mention of China as the source of the virus that triggers the zombie outbreak.

In February, Rep. Mark Green reintroduced the Stopping Communist Regimes From Engaging in Edits Now (SCREEN) Act (H.R.1690). The legislation would prevent the federal government from providing support to Hollywood studios that co-produce films with a China-based company.

“[Chinese regime leader] Xi Jinping is not interested in importing American culture; he wants to dominate it. There is a reason China refused to show ‘Spider Man: No Way Home’ unless the Statue of Liberty was cut out,” Green said in a statement at the time.

“My bill will ensure that film studios that capitulate to CCP edits or demands will no longer receive taxpayer funding or federal assistance.”

Reuters contributed to this report.