UK government in 'active discussions' with Washington over US film tariffs

The UK government is in "active discussions" with top officials in the White House about Donald Trump's film tariffs, a minister has said.

Chris Bryant said the US president's plan to put 100% tariffs on films made outside America is a "fluid situation" that requires a "calm and steady approach".

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"We are already in active discussions with the top of the US administration on this subject," he told MPs after an urgent question was raised on the matter in the House of Commons.

"We are working hard to establish what might be proposed, if anything, and to make sure our world beating creative industries are protected."

He added that he is due to meet UK industry leaders on Thursday.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump said he had authorised government departments to put a 100% tariff "on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands".

Entertainment industry union BECTU has warned this could seriously damage the industry in the UK.

Shadow culture minister Stuart Andrew asked what impact assessment the government has made and whether there are any contingency plans if an exemption can't be secured.

Mr Bryant said he is "not sure precisely what is intended" with the film tariffs as he doesn't know "what a tariff on a service would look like".

"Most films these days are an international collaboration of some kind and we want to maintain that," he said.

He appeared to rule out retaliatory tariffs if Mr Trump follows through with his plan, saying the Labour government of 1947 introduced tariffs on US films because they thought too many were being shown in the cinema and "it didn't go very well as a strategy".

"The Americans simply banned exports of US films and we ended up watching Ben-Hur repeatedly in every cinema.

"The successful bit of what we did in 1947 and 1948 was that we invested in the British film production system. And that led to films like Hamlet and Kind Hearts and Coronets. I think that that's the pattern that we still want to adopt."

PM urged to stand up to Trump

However, the Liberal Democrats have urged the government to stand up to Mr Trump, whose film tariffs form part of a wider crackdown on US imports announced earlier this year.

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, party leader Ed Davey urged Sir Keir Starmer to work with allies in Europe and in the Commonwealth to "make clear to President Trump that if he picks a fight with James Bond, Bridget Jones and Paddington Bear, he will lose".

However, the PM said it is "not sensible or pragmatic" to choose between Europe and the US, with Downing Street still seeking to negotiate an "economic deal" with Washington that it hopes could offset some of Mr Trump's measures.

Mr Trump said the film tariffs were necessary because other countries were "offering all sorts of incentives to draw" filmmakers and film studios away from the United States, calling the issue a "national security threat".

But insiders have questioned whether it will be effective as the exodus of the film industry from Hollywood is mostly due to economic reasons, with other countries having lower labour costs and more expansive tax incentives.

Much of the 2023 box office smash Barbie was filmed at the Warner Bros Leavesden studios, in Hertfordshire, as was Wonka and 2022 hit The Batman, while the vast majority of James Bond films were shot at Pinewood Studios, in Buckinghamshire.

It was also unclear whether the duties will apply to films on streaming platforms as well as those that are released in cinemas.