China’s film authorities are threatening to “moderately reduce” the number of U.S. films allowed into the country in response to the tariffs President Trump imposed on the communist nation.
“The wrong action of the U.S. government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability towards American films,” the China Film Administration said in a statement on Thursday. “We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.”
China’s film authority did not release a list of the films on the ban list, but the May release of Marvel’s Thunderbols has already been approved fore release in China.
“We are pleased that China Film Administration has clarified its position on U.S. film imports and highly confident — given our decades of business and strong relationships in the country — that Imax’s robust slate in China, which includes Hollywood, Chinese and international films, will not be materially impacted. We continue to expect a strong year for Imax in China, coming off our highest grossing first quarter ever in the country,” Imax said in a statement.
Trump paused his threatened tariffs on 75 countries on Wednesday, but China was not one of them, The Wrap noted.
“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump said. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”
Still, Hollywood has been reducing its reliance on the second biggest film market in world as U.S. films have seen falling income levels as Chinese fans have turned away from American entertainment. Last year, for instance, U.S. films brought in $585 million in China last year. But that haul was only about 3.5 percent of the $17.71 billion Chinese box office, The Verge reported.
That isn’t to say that U.S. films aren’t making cash in China.
This month, the Minecraft Movie opened in in first place in China with ticket sales of $14.5 million, Deadline reported.
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