Trump's Tariffs Puts Indian Films at Risk in US

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - United States President Donald Trump plans to implement a new policy by announcing a proposal to impose 100 percent import tariffs on all foreign-produced films entering the American market.

The reason for this is to save the dying U.S. film industry, but the side effects of this policy could affect countries with strong film industries, such as India.

The Indian film industry, which has penetrated the global market, relies on the United States as one of its largest international markets. This is due to the large Indian diaspora community and established distribution systems in the U.S.

However, with Trump's proposed plan still under discussion, Indian film production is at risk of experiencing a significant shake-up in terms of revenue and international expansion, especially in the cinema sector.

U.S. as the Primary International Market for Indian Films

The United States is a crucial contributor to the Indian film industry. With over 5.2 million people of Indian descent, according to the Pew Research Center, this diaspora community consistently forms the primary audience for Hindi and regional films such as Telugu and Tamil.

Statistics show that Bollywood films earn around 40-60 percent of their international revenue from the U.S. Meanwhile, South Indian films can earn between 12 and 70 percent of their foreign revenue from the country.

Adi Tiwary, the creative director of Stuart Entertainment, emphasizes that the U.S. market contributes 30-50 percent of the total net overseas revenue for successful Indian films.

"So, losing the U.S. territory would be like losing a platinum card in a cash economy," said Tiwary, as reported by India Times.

He mentioned that if a 100 percent tariff is imposed, distributors buying distribution rights worth US$1 million would have to pay an additional tax of US$1 million. This would undoubtedly raise ticket prices, reduce the number of viewers, and squeeze margins for manufacturers and distributors.

Production Model Threatened and Shift to Streaming

In addition to distribution impact, these tariffs threaten the production cost structure and long-term strategies of Indian production houses. Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO of Eros International Media, stated that this policy would double the cost of importing films into the U.S., causing many production houses to reconsider project scales and release locations.

"The tariff effectively doubles the cost of importing Indian films," Dwivedi said.

Furthermore, Suniel Wadhwa from Karmic Films highlighted that this policy does not provide exceptions for Indian production houses with offices in the U.S., as the films are still considered to be produced abroad. This limits the maneuvering space for Indian producers and could lead to a significant shift to streaming platforms as the primary distribution alternative.

Meanwhile, Shibashish Sarkar, the president of the Producers Guild of India, estimated losses of up to US$100 million per year in box office revenue if the tariffs are implemented. He also noted that if this cost increase is passed on to audiences through ticket prices, the number of viewers would decrease.

Conversely, if borne by cinemas, producers would receive much smaller revenues. According to him, both scenarios represent a loss.

While the White House has not finalized, the Indian film industry is not sitting idly by.

As quoted from Variety, the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA), along with the Film Federation of India (FFI), is devising approaches to raise this issue with the Indian government in bilateral relations.

“All our producers and distributors bodies will have to meet in order to resolve the issue using government deliberations first. IMPPA and FFI (Film Federation of India) will approach the government to announce our joint stand on the issue,” said IMPPA President Abhay Sinha.

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