Trump film tariffs threaten Australia and New Zealand, home of Lord of the Rings, Marvel studios

Actors Elijah Wood (lef) and Sean Astin, stars of “The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King”. Photo: Reuters

Australia and New Zealand vowed to advocate for their film industries on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced a plan to impose 100 per cent tariffs on foreign-made films.
Australia and New Zealand have emerged as popular filming locations for Hollywood films in recent years, given lower costs and tax incentives from federal and state governments.
Earlier, Trump said in a social media post that it was due to incentives offered by other countries to lure filmmakers that the American movie industry was dying a “very fast death”.

Australia’s home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said he had spoken to the head of government body Screen Australia, which offers funding to support the development, production and marketing of screen content, about the proposed tariffs.

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“Nobody should be under any doubt that we will be standing up unequivocally for the rights of the Australian screen industry,” Burke said in a statement.