Wes Anderson Responds to Trump’s Tariff Proposal

Film director Wes Anderson shared his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to impose 100% tariffs on films produced outside the U.S. during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival. He found the idea interesting yet perplexing, especially considering his own film, “The Phoenician Scheme,” was partially shot in Germany.

“I’ve never really heard of 100% tariffs before,” he remarked, expressing his confusion about how such a system could actually work. He added, “I’m not an expert in that economics field, but if he’s planning to take all the money, what do we get in return?” This leads to some questions about practicality—like, for example, could films even be held up at customs?

While known for his distinctive style and films like “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Anderson admitted he really didn’t know much about tariffs and wanted more information before giving a solid opinion.

In the midst of Trump’s announcement, the White House later clarified that there hadn’t been any final decision regarding foreign films. They mentioned they were still exploring options to boost domestic production, claiming that “Hollywood is great again.”

Reactions to the tariff idea have been varied. Director Richard Linklater also weighed in on the matter at Cannes but received substantial backlash concerning Trump’s policy.

In a somewhat unusual consensus, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom backed the goal of promoting American-made films. However, he proposed an alternative—a $7.5 billion federal tax credit program aimed at encouraging film and television production instead of tariffs.