US media stocks crashed on Monday after Trump announced a 100% tariff plan on movies that are made outside the United States of America (USA). He strongly said, "We want movies made in America, AGAIN." However, his announcement soured sentiment in media stocks listed on Wall Street. Whether it's Netflix, Disney, or Warner Bros., the majority of media stocks are struggling.
US Media Stocks:
Netflix, a leading top streaming service provider, aka OTT platform, plunged by at least 4.3% to hit an intraday low of $1,107.01 in the early trade of Wall Street on Monday. Walt Disney's share price tumbled by 3.15% to hit an intraday low of $89.61. Nasdaq-listed Warner Bros also dropped by 5.4% to hit an intraday low of $8.08.
Furthermore, Paramount Global Class B shares declined by 2.4% to hit an intraday low of $11.16. The stock price of Lionsgate Studios also plummeted by a whopping 8.4% to hit an intraday low of $6.52.
Other media stocks like SALEM Media Group dropped by 6.5%, followed by Gaia and Trump Media & Technology Groups, which dipped by 3.5% each. Stocks like Metropole Television, ComScore, EW Scripps Company, Bastei Lubbe, Bushiroad, and The Arena Group also plunged by 2.5% to 3%.
US Tariff on Foreign Movies:
In the early hours of May 5th, Trump through his social media account on Truth Socials, said, the movie industry in America "is DYING a very fast death." He added, "other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States."
"Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated, adding Trump said, "This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!"
Therefore, he said, "I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!"
Impact Of 100% Tariff On Foreign-Made Movies?
Shibasish Sarkar, president of the Producers Guild of India told PTI, "It is a little early to comment on this because whatever kind of tariff got announced in the last 30 to 45 days is going through various changes and discussions... But if it gets implemented, the first impact I foresee is on the theatrical business of our films in the US market."
For India, a user Ajay Jain Bhutoria said, "Trump's 100% tariff on movies made outside USA could hit Bollywood hard in the USA! Indian movies may face higher costs & limited screenings, especially on digital platforms. Will have to wait to see how it impacts the Bollywood market in the USA."
Earlier in April, the China Film Administration said in a statement, "The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience's favourability towards American films," adding "We will follow the market rules, respect the audience's choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported," as reported by The Guardian.
Worldwide Box Office Collection:
It needs to be noted that the US market rules the media industry on a worldwide scale.
Data from The Numbers revealed that in 2024, the top 10 movies worldwide were from US-based movie production houses like Walt Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Inside Out is the biggest gross with collection of $652,980,194, followed by Deadpool & Wolverine with $636,745,858 collection. Wicked, Moana 2, Despicable Me 4, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Dune: Part Two, Twisters, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire and Kung Fu Panda 4 were among the top 10 grossers and all belonged to these three production houses.
Walt Disney ruled with 21.37% market share in 2024, followed closely by Universal with 20.21% share, Warner Bros and Sony Pictures held shares of 13.37% and 11.08%. Paramount Pictures at fifth position, held 10.21% share.
Source: The Numbers
So far, the USA produced 25,964 movies with an average budget production of $38,727,757, and had a total worldwide box office of $654,909,406,881, as per The Numbers data. This makes Hollywood the largest film industry in the world. The second and third place is held by the UK and China with worldwide box office of $58,396,614,963 and $54,634,265,652. The gap between these two countries and the USA is mind-boggling.
India is at 8th rank with 3,038 movies and a worldwide box office collection of $9,445,930,848, as per the data.
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