Responding to the announcement from President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on films not produced in the US, Equity urged a calm response which focuses on bolstering the UK film and TV production industry. The union represents performers working in film and TV, and argues that cutting production in the UK won’t achieve the President’s aim of increasing jobs in the US.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said he would impose 100% tariffs on films not produced in the US after a slowdown in Hollywood film production.
Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said: “The film and TV production sector is an important part of the UK economy and this industry will always be a global one. There’s much we can do in the UK to ensure we are in the best possible place for this to continue to be a UK success story.
“A lot of the panic over the past 24 hours is due to the fragility in the system. This can be addressed positively through properly funding our public service broadcasters and ensuring an attractive and fair tax and investment environment for studios and production. Scrapping DCMS – as has been rumoured over the weekend – would be a retrograde step.
“America’s objective is to generate more productions and more jobs in film. Is that going to be achieved by stopping filming Barbie, which was filmed here on British union agreements, or Wicked or Mission Impossible? Clearly not. The industry tends to feed itself, so an upturn in American production is a good thing for the UK.
“We need our government and the industry to stand up for British film production and not panic.”
