China is set to reduce the number of U.S. movie imports in response to President Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs. The move comes after the President announced that he was increasing tariffs on several countries, including upping the tariffs on Chinese goods. The move has led to chaos in the U.S. stock market, as well as counter-tariffs from China. Now, the ongoing tariff war looks to impact Hollywood, which is still reeling from Snow White‘s box office failure.

Per Variety, the Chinese Film Administration has announced its plans to cut back on the number of American movies imported. In a statement, the Administration claimed that the U.S. government’s decision to “…abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability towards American films.” The decision is set to have wide-reaching ramifications on Hollywood’s box office potential and the financial success of American movies.

What This Means For The U.S. Box Office

Things Could Get Brutal For Hollywood

While it is unclear how long Trump’s tariffs might remain in place, China has not taken the move well, and their reduction in the number of U.S. movie imports could seriously hurt the Hollywood film industry. With the overall box office struggling, this is a development Hollywood can ill afford. Things were looking up with the box office success of A Minecraft Movie, which actually broke the dominance of $2.1 billion juggernaut Ne Zha 2‘s 10-week reign to top the Chinese box office, but this success could be short-lived.

There are going to be wider-reaching implications to China’s move, and shutting the U.S. out of the second-largest box office in the world is certainly something that is going to cause a lot of financial damage to Hollywood. There is the hope that some movies, such as the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Superman, will perform well in China, but across the board, this could be a big problem for Hollywood. There is also the issue of if and when China eases these limitations and how much money studios could be set to lose in the process.

Our Take On China’s Decision To Reduce U.S. Movie Releases

This Is Bad News For Hollywood & American Films

In what appears to be an era of audience apathy, Hollywood needs to reignite the box office and capture audience interest once again. China is historically a core market for helping bolster America’s box office, so this is a setback that could ruin what might otherwise have been a strong summer for U.S. movies. The impending Jurᴀssic World: Rebirth, Mission: Impossible 8, Lilo & Sтιтch, Superman, and How to Train Your Dragon are causes for optimism, but if they are frozen out of the Chinese market, they may not enjoy the box office success initially hoped.

Source: Variety