China said on Thursday it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s escalation of U.S. tariffs on imported Chinese goods.
Meanwhile, the Europe will pause its first countermeasures against U.S. tariffs.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said: ‘We want to give negotiations a chance.’
China bans Hollywood in tariff war escalation
China said on Thursday it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s escalation of U.S. tariffs on imported Chinese goods.
After three decades during which China annually imported 10 Hollywood movies, its National Film Administration said Trump’s increase of tariffs on Chinese imports would further sour domestic demand for U.S. cinema in China after years of decline.
The NFA said on its website:
We will follow market rules, respect the audience’s choices, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported,” the NFA said on its website.
Chris Fenton, author of ‘Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business,’ said the move was a ‘super high-profile way to make a statement of retaliation with almost zero downside for China.’
Hollywood films account for only 5 percent of the overall box office receipts in China’s market. And worse for Hollywood, China taxes that small amount 50 percent before any revenues go back to the USA,’ Fenton told Reuters.
Hollywood studios receive only 25 percent of China’s box office whereas other markets give studios double that, he said.
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