Alberta film industry plays the waiting game with threatened tariff

Posted on July 10, 2025 by admin

By Trevor Busch
Westwind Weekly News
editor@tabertimes.com

Big questions still loom over U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threat to impose a 100 per cent tariff on films produced outside the United States.

One thing is certain – if imposed the tariff could potentially have a devastating impact on Alberta’s thriving film industry. 

In his May 4 post, Trump indicated he was directing the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to “immediately begin the process” of imposing the tariff in an attempt to revive America’s “dying” film industry. 

“Trump says a lot of things, and he backs off of them. So I just think every time we light our hair on fire, he says he wins – I don’t think it’s an adult thing to do,” said Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter. “I’m not happy with what he’s doing in terms of the chaos he’s creating. But again, he’s not the president of the world – he’s the president of the United States. He’s going to try to do what’s best for the United States in this situation. We’ll just have to see, does he mean that? Does that mean that they’re going to repatriate everything back to the United States? I don’t know – they make decisions about where they’re going to film for various reasons.”

Trump’s often haphazard social media approach to major policy announcements has left huge questions about how such a tariff might be implemented – for instance whether it might be applied to streaming costs for consumers or various jurisdictional tax credits. 

However, industry insiders point out even a threatened tariff can have a chilling effect on incoming investment. But Hunter, who also serves as Associate Minister of Water and Chief Government Whip, isn’t convinced Hollywood is fully on board with the president’s capricious announcement.

“The location is the number one reason from what I’m hearing. And we’ve got some amazing vistas and beautiful landscapes here that they love to put into movies. And so I don’t know whether or not they would change that. Also, we’ve got a very skilled and capable workforce here that’s been doing this for a long time in the movie industry, and they come at about a 30 per cent premium depreciated price tag, because of the U.S.-Canada exchange. So I would be very surprised if Hollywood says, ‘From now on we’re just going to be filming in the United States.’ From what I’m hearing, they’re saying we’re not going to do that.”

In his May 4 post to social media, Trump blasted incentives offered by other nations to bring in television and film production as a key factor involved in America’s industry being “devastated”.

At the end of the day there are many unanswered questions, says Hunter, and the devil may be in the details.

“Remember, a tariff is the federal government applying a cost to products coming into the United States. So I don’t understand how they’re going to do that. When a company from the United States films up here, it might be 10 per cent of the cost of the production, because they do all of the editing and everything down in Hollywood. So maybe 10 per cent, maybe 20 per cent – I don’t know what the numbers are. So how does that work? Do you get 100 per  cent on that 10 to 20 per cent, or do you get 100 per cent on the full cost of the picture? Because I don’t know how the Trump administration will be able to do it if 90 per cent is being done in the United States. It’s bizarre to me. That whole thing is bizarre.”

In 2023, Alberta’s film and television sector contributed roughly $450 million to the province’s GDP, according to Calgary Economic Development.