AYABONGA CAWE: Foreign film tariffs could open Pandora’s box for services duties
Trade war may be deepening as Trump plans 100% levy on films produced in foreign lands
It is as if the movie credits write themselves. Reality has become stranger than fiction. Jy ken mos. Die movie star ding, as Sipho Sepamla’s poem suggested. It is that age of diplomacy.
As I write this, news arrives of US President Donald Trump planning a 100% levy on films produced in foreign lands. Like an industrial policy for Hollywood. We kind of have one too in SA, where movie makers get offsets and rebates. There are a lot of jobs on film sets. It makes sense. But we don’t tax Nollywood “flicks” or Japanese karate dramas. We don’t even levy import taxes on most cinematic film reels or any other video recording equipment. To “penalise” Americans for streaming K-dramas is like calling the app the “bioscope”. Ancient. Old...
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