U.S. President Trump has focused his tariffs on foreign movies.
On a post made to his social media platform Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that he has authorised the U.S. Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to “immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands”.
Trump also claimed that these foreign films are a “national security threat” that “draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States”, as well as containing “messaging and propaganda”–the latter of which he did not elaborate on further.
Considering that in recent years, anime films have been making waves in America, Trump’s 100% tariff on foreign movies may now pose a massive hurdle for American fans to enjoy anime movies from their favourite franchises.
“100% tariffs on foreign movies”: anime movies falls under the umbrella
Trump’s aim is to make licensing/importing expensive for businesses and individuals, therefore forcing the American film industry to rely on creating their movies domestically. Although news of this decision has impacted Hollywood, Japanese-made anime films do fall under the umbrella of movies from “foreign lands” that Trump is campaigning against.
With anime films gaining a foothold in popularity with the western audience, Trump’s declaration will affect all upcoming anime films to be licensed for distribution within the U.S.
As such, American distribution and licensing companies who bring anime movies to U.S. theatres like Crunchyroll and GKIDS will be affected, although it’s still unclear if this decision will also affect streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, or Max.
Anime movies that have announced U.S. release dates, like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle or Chainsaw man - the Movie: Reze Arc also hang in the balance: although these franchises have been licensed for an American release before the tariff was announced, it is unclear whether it will receive the 100% tariff or not.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is set to debut in U.S. theatres on 12 September, 2025, while Chainsaw man - the Movie: Reze Arc is releasing on 29 October, 2025.
This decision will undoubtedly hurt the booming licensing and distribution industry, as well as the studios and companies behind some of our favourite anime movies. The 2020 movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train alone grossed a total of US$47.7 million in the United States and Canada, becoming the second-highest grossing anime film right after Pokemon: The First Movie.
Studio Ghibli, which has found itself in good standing with western audiences due to its repertoire of amazing anime films, also made good bank with U.S. and Canada releases. The studio’s latest film, The Boy and The Heron, grossed over US$46.8 million back in 2023.
