After the United States slapped punishing levies on China, with a 104 per cent tariff coming into effect on Wednesday, Beijing is considering a ban on Hollywood movies. Local authorities are planning this in response to US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff levies, Bloomberg reported, quoting two influential Chinese bloggers.
According to sources, “reducing or banning the import of US films” and increasing tariffs on US agricultural goods and US services are among other countermeasures.
The American film industry has so far remained unscathed in the growing tit-for-tat measures announced between China and the US as theatrical film releases and streaming platforms are categorised under services instead of physical goods.
But Hollywood’s luck in China may be running out if the report is to be believed.
In the face of the bruising trade war, markets around the world are paying the price. Asian markets sank again on Wednesday as the White House looked set to impose reciprocal US tariffs, including a massive 104 per cent levy on Chinese imports.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell nearly 4 per cent in morning trade while markets in South Korea, New Zealand and Australia also declined, according to the Associated Press.
China’s blue chips slipped 1.2 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 3.1 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.7 per cent.
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The plans to counter America’s tariff warfare were shared on social media by Liu Hong, editor at Xinhua News Agency which is backed by the state, and Ren Yi, grandson of Ren Zhongyi, former Communist Party chief of Guangdong Province.
The other measures mentioned in the post, which is reportedly being considered by the Chinese authorities, include banning the import of poultry from US, suspending China-US cooperation on fentanyl-related issues and probing the intellectual property benefits of US companies functioning in China.
A report by The Hollywood Reporter stated that earnings of US studios have dropped significantly in recent times in China due to a shift in viewing experience of Chinese people from Hollywood franchises toward the country’s homegrown Chinese-language blockbusters.
The Asian markets are bleeding red and plunging on a day to day basis amid Trump’s imposition of reciprocal tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% across all its global trading partners and on China, a whopping 104%.
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