Last month, Donald Trump announced plans to impose 100 percent tariffs on all foreign films entering the United States, claiming they pose a threat to national security and vowing to “make Hollywood great again.” As with many recent American policy proposals, the details are vague and non-specific: will this impact Hollywood films shot abroad? Will streaming platforms like Netflix be included? And, central to this article, what could it mean for the burgeoning global industry of Japanese anime?
Since gaining popularity outside Japan in the 1990s, anime has grown from a niche interest into a mainstream entertainment medium, particularly surging during the pandemic when global audiences sought new content. It was during this time that Demon Slayer: Infinity Train grossed over $49.5 million at the US box office, becoming both the highest-grossing foreign film in the country and the top-grossing anime film of all time.
The growth hasn’t slowed. A 2024 study found that more members of Gen Z watched anime than the NFL, while a 2023 industry report revealed that, for the first time, the overseas anime market surpassed the domestic Japanese one. This global demand has even sparked major collaborations between Western and Japanese studios, such as Suicide Squad Isekai (2024), The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024), and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023).
These proposed tariffs, however, could bring this momentum to a halt. Initial tariffs on Japanese goods have already impacted the industry, driving up the cost of physical products like Blu-rays, figures, and other merchandise, most of which must be imported from Japan.
An example of this includes import websites like Good Smile Company and Ami Ami, which ship anime-related items to international markets. The former now has an “Estimated Tariff Fee” added on to each shipment to the US, and the latter has suspended any US-based shipping services, raising to price for importing goods the America. The results are the same; what is an already expensive hobby has now become nearly financially impossible.
While anime streaming remains unaffected, the increasing price of physical products hits hardest among collectors, many of whom are the most passionate fans. These are the people who invest the most money into the industry, attend conventions, and help promote anime through sheer enthusiasm. Now they are being penalised in a half-hearted effort to push American media over the rest of the world.
Trump’s approach, like with many tariffs, is more about projecting strength than crafting effective policy. According to Inderjeet Parmar, a commentator on American politics and foreign policy, the message is clear: if America could “compete fairly,” it would dominate globally.
“The overall picture is that Trump is trying to show that the US is the most powerful country, can more or less do whatever it likes, and everyone else has to basically bow down. That’s part of his so-called negotiating strategy, which he claims is part of his art of the deal.”
For decades, Hollywood has been the global entertainment powerhouse, exporting American culture worldwide. But since the post-WWII era, the rest of the world has been catching up. Anime is just one example; South Korea’s K-dramas and K-pop have captured global audiences, while Chinese media continues to rise, with Nezha 2 now being the highest-grossing animated film of all time. European cinema, particularly in French and Spanish, is expanding beyond the arthouse crowd, and Bollywood remains a cultural juggernaut. All of these face similar situations to Japan, but they still have one advantage in that they are less reliant on the US box office.
With such fierce competition, Trump’s film tariffs may backfire, not only damaging foreign industries but potentially undermining Hollywood itself. They could stifle international collaborations and erode America’s cultural influence.
“It would be very complicated to implement as a policy. Financially, it could be costly. It might provoke retaliation and could cost Hollywood a great deal of soft power,” Parmar says. “By placing tariffs on others, you may accelerate the growth of foreign film industries. Denied access to the US market, they’re likely to develop their own even more robustly. So, it could backfire.”
Parmar and other analysts suggest that if Trump truly wants to boost Hollywood, a more productive strategy would involve offering subsidies for new studios or incentives to film domestically, similar to the model used by the UK.
Returning to anime, US tariffs could damage Japan’s industry and inconvenience international fans—but the real harm might be self-inflicted. Anime is one of many global alternatives to Hollywood. Blocking physical imports won’t decrease its popularity; instead, it may drive Japan to shift focus to other markets and limit future Hollywood partnerships—deals that could benefit both industries.
Even beyond the economic logic, anime fans are famously resourceful. Whether or not streaming platforms like Crunchyroll or Netflix raise their prices, the anime community will find ways to keep watching. The cultural momentum and community are simply too strong.
Already, Trump has backpedalled on many of his tariffs, and the American courts are trying to block them, although we don’t know if this includes the film tariffs since they’re still being proposed. It’s tempting to dismiss this film tariff proposal as mere posturing—a tough-sounding message for social media. But given the unpredictability of his administration, we’ll just have to wait, watch more anime, and see what happens.
Words by Alex Daud Briggs
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