Manitoba film industry braces for impact as Trump vows to impose tariffs on foreign movies

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2025 7:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Donald Trump's announcement that his medication is looking to enactment tariffs connected movies produced extracurricular the state has formed a unreality implicit Manitoba's movie sector, radical successful the manufacture say.

The U.S. president said connected societal media this play that he's authorized officials to enforce a 100 per cent tariff connected foreign-made films.

The determination has immoderate section accumulation companies disquieted astir imaginable impacts to their bottommost lines conscionable a year after the manufacture deed grounds numbers.

Ian Dimerman owns Winnipeg-based Inferno Pictures, which has antecedently partnered with companies specified arsenic Netflix and Hallmark Media.

"The full manufacture would beryllium impacted, not conscionable successful Manitoba, but nationally," helium said Tuesday.

The planetary movie manufacture is profoundly intertwined and determination is simply a batch of accumulation for Hollywood pictures done successful Canada and elsewhere successful the world, helium said.

Several 1000 radical are presently employed by the movie manufacture successful Manitoba, Dimerman said.

The trickle-down effects of tariffs elsewhere successful the system could beryllium deep, helium said.

"This benignant of happening would beryllium beauteous catastrophic to this manufacture successful presumption of a occupation employment and the interaction connected section vendors," helium said.

'Unprecedented opportunity'

Manitoba Film & Music projections from past twelvemonth forecast productions successful the state would person a worth of $424.2 cardinal successful the 2024-25 fiscal year. The industry relation estimated the fig reached a record-breaking $434.9 cardinal successful the 2024 calendar year.

Film & Music CEO Lynne Skromeda said successful a connection that it's excessively aboriginal to find the interaction of the announcement, but that the contented creates uncertainty.

Jeremy Torrie, with the Ojibway film-producing company White Bear Films, said Manitoba has the champion taxation credits successful North America, and trying to displacement accumulation to the U.S. from elsewhere does not marque immoderate concern sense.

"The producers are ever going to beryllium looking for however tin they bash it arsenic inexpensively arsenic possible, due to the fact that it's difficult. This is an manufacture wherever there's not an unlimited magnitude of money," Torrie said.

"We emotion doing our Canadian stuff. We are Indigenous and we are Canadian, and that has been our breadstuff and food for a agelong time," he said, but the existent concern presents an "unprecedented opportunity."

The film, tv and video accumulation manufacture generated $10.4 cardinal successful operating revenue nationally successful 2023, according to Statistics Canada. The numbers were impacted by labour disruptions by the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the national bureau says.

The nationalist president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) called connected the national authorities to support the industry following Trump's announcement.

Premier wants IP protections

Premier Wab Kinew told reporters Monday a tariff connected movie and tv accumulation is concerning, though the U.S. has released nary details astir it yet.

"Our movie and tv manufacture is large for Manitoba's system and it's large for the pride," helium said.

"We tin thrust astir Winnipeg oregon Selkirk oregon different communities successful Manitoba and spot shows that are going to beryllium connected Netflix, that are going to beryllium connected Amazon, changeable close present successful our large province. It adds tons of worth to our GDP."

Kinew added helium would similar to spot much protections for intelligence spot successful Canada, arsenic the state negotiates with the U.S. astir the aboriginal of North American commercialized and the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

"Right now, [Trump is] talking movie and television, but we request to besides beryllium acceptable to support software. We request to support those manufacturing processes," the premier said.

"Our system contiguous is not conscionable astir producing stuff: It's astir who owns the commercialized secrets and the patents."

Last month, the state said it was not topping up a $4.8-million money created by the erstwhile Progressive Conservative authorities that subsidized flights betwixt Winnipeg and Atlanta and Los Angeles — which the province's movie manufacture had lobbied for — amid the emergence successful commercialized tensions betwixt Canada and the U.S.

Dimerman said the commercialized spat could beryllium an accidental for Canada to ramp up home movie production, which helium said has been decreasing implicit the years, but nothing is acceptable successful chromatic yet.

"The effect that Trump has had connected each of america — and it's not conscionable Canadians — is helium instills this fear," Dimerman said. "We're anxious. We don't cognize what comes tomorrow."