Trump’s trade war with China is now hurting Hollywood – and US soft power

At the end of last week, Minecraft movie to make 15 million dollars in China At the opening weekend. Thanks to President Donald TrumpA new tariff for the country, this success story may be the last of its kind, for at least a period of time.

On Thursday, Trump announced 145 percent customs tariff On Chinese goods, even when a 90 -day stop is on some Huge definitions It has been imposed on other countries around the world. As part of the country’s response to the escalating trade war, the Chinese film administration announced that it will reduce the number of American films permitted to the country. The US government’s move to “a tariff for the abuse of China”, its spokesperson He said in a statement Thursday, “will inevitably increase the preference of the local audience towards American films.”

This is bad news for Hollywood. Instead of affecting Trump’s markets closely, the decrease in the number of American films that are operating on Chinese screens will deeply affect American cultural cinema in the country, and eventually the fingers of industry in the second largest film market in the world.

For years, Hollywood films were soft power in China. In general, China has I import a handful of movies annually From Hollywood, but since 2020, when the refrigerated relations in Covid-19 decreased between China and the United States. American films achieved about 3 billion dollars annually in China between 2017 and 2019, but by last year this number decreased to $ 1.2 billion, according to Omdia analyst for cinema David Hancock.

During that time, the Chinese fans began to embrace more local films. Ne zha 2Movie Movie that Minecraft It has already brought $ 2 billion, and positions on the vision of American films are transformed. “American films are less popular anyway in China now, but I feel that (new restrictions) will make them less,” says Hancock. “The Chinese fans have definitely voted with their feet in the past few years (when it comes) with Hollywood films.”

Still, it was there 42 American films It was released in China last year, and they form about five box office boxes. The Chinese authorities are trying to enhance cinema as a way to enhance the economy, but it seems that the preferences of the masses tend more towards local films. It is something, as a professor of political science at the University of Southern California Stanley Rosen Los Angeles Times has been told this week“It became a national issue (for China) as well as an economic issue.”

However, the Chinese masses also found gaps around both the restrictions of the Chinese government and the Hollywood itself.

“All Hollywood movies are easily available to broadcast in high -quality copies with excellent Chinese translations on Chinese pirated websites,” Rosen says, so anyone who wants to watch these films can do this in the comfort of their homes, with no payment of money supporting American cultural products. “

in Modern job On the Chinese film market, Hancock indicated that the Communist Party’s advertising department has been responsible for organizing films in the country since 2018. While American studios will change films, for example, for example, Includes Chinese productsSo that they could examine the country in 2010, this turned, especially after the censorship grew more restricted. There are no Marvel films that were played in the country between 2020 and 2022 – a blow to Disney thinking in 2019 Avengers: the end of the game Make more than $ 600 million there. Top pistol: Mavrick It was not allowed in the country in 2022.

No official reason has been given to banning Marvel movies, however You tell the experts While it may have to do with their inclusion of LGBTQ+ or tensions between the United States and China or other issues. MavrickIt seems that he was put in his focus on American military power The emergence of the Taiwanese flag. Regardless of the reasons, if fewer films made in the United States are permitted in China, the American cultural treasury may diminish further.

Since Trump’s tariff causes chaos in stock markets all over the world, the effects of ripple are still at the forefront. It seems that auto and tool makers like Apple Prepare to weather The worst storm, however Broadcasting services Hollywood studios can feel effects over the coming years. The longest major films are rejected from entering China, the more difficult to make the American cinema cold again.