Beijing said it will reduce the number of U.S. film imports in the latest tit-for-tat retaliation against President Trump’s increased reciprocal tariff on China, opening a new front in the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
The China Film Administration announced the decision on its website Thursday, saying the U.S. government’s “abuse of tariffs on China will inevitably diminish the domestic audience’s favorable view of American films.” It said the move follows market rules and respects audiences’ choices.
Such a move was first suggested this week by two of China’s most influential bloggers, including a senior journalist working for the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Other potential retaliation measures that Beijing would resort to, as shared by both bloggers in social-media posts, included raising levies on U.S. agricultural products such as soybeans and sorghum and banning the import of U.S. poultry. Authorities may also impose curbs on U.S. services, including legal consultancy, and are considering a probe into U.S. companies’ China operations for the “huge monopoly benefits” they have gained from intellectual-property rights, the bloggers said.
Thursday’s move came after a broad set of countermeasures announced Wednesday by Beijing further provoked President Trump, who moved to pause higher tariffs on dozens of countries but singled out China for an even bigger tariff hit of 125% that took effect immediately.
China, the world’s second-largest film market, was once seen as a key revenue market for Hollywood. Now, it is considered an afterthought, with Chinese audiences already souring on U.S. films amid intensifying geopolitical tensions and increasingly turning to domestic movies. The Chinese film “Ne Zha 2,” released in January, outpaced American films and became the world’s highest-grossing movie in any single market.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 10, 2025 07:46 ET (11:46 GMT)
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