Netflix, Warner Bros.-shares slide as Trump, threatened 100% tariff for foreign films

The media stocks fell on Monday after President Trump was asked for a 100% tariff for all foreign films.

Netflix (NFLX), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Paramount Global (para) each declined 1% in retail in the late afternoon, after they used to settle steeper losses in the meeting. Disney (disd) hovered just above the flat line.

The market movements followed late Sunday from Trump's guideline when his administration “imposed a 100% tariff for all films in our country that are produced in foreign countries”. The announcement sent shock waves by Hollywood, which had to struggle with the strikes of pandemic and the youngest writers and actors.

“The film industry in America dies very fast death,” Trump wrote in a contribution about the social truth. “Other countries offer all possible incentives to pull our filmmakers and studios from the USA. Hollywood and many other areas in the United States are destroyed.

Trump spoke in Washington, DC, defended the proposal on Monday, but said that he would meet with the industry to further discuss the plans.

“I don't want to hurt the industry. I want to help the industry,” he said. “I would like to make sure you are satisfied because we are only about jobs … … it is a large industry, but it is now an industry that the United States has left where it started. We will get it back.”

At the beginning of this year, Trump appointed a trio of actors – Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson – as his “special ambassador” in Hollywood. He presented the initiative in January and described Hollywood as “a great but very restless place”.

Trump's announcement follows China's step to “reduce moderately” the imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for the escalation of US tariffs for Chinese goods.

The proposed tariffs were able to affect several blockbusters abroad, including Disney's “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (London), “Avatar: Fire and Ash” of the 20th century (New Zealand), Paramount's “Mission: Impossible A respect” (global location), Lionsgate's Balmera (Czzech Republicing “and Lucas,: Starfighter” (UK).

Read more: The latest news and updates to Trump's customs duties

“Until there is more clarity, this new development, which should have been predicted by all Hollywood C-Suites, will probably slow down business or in the worst case, as well as the strikes of Hollywood,” said Chris Fenton, a long-time Hollywood manager, to Yahoo Finance.