Technologies

Trump Calls for 100% Tariff on Foreign Movies, With Hollywood Seeking Answers

It’s not just hard goods like cars and smartphones. Tariffs could become a factor in the costs of making and watching movies.

Movies are a new focal point for the Trump administration’s campaign to impose tariffs across a wide range of industries, from tech to textiles and beyond.

In a Sunday night social media post, President Donald Trump said the US movie industry «is DYING a very fast death.» He wrote that he’s authorizing a 100% tariff «on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.»

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick quoted the president and responded, «We’re on it.»

Trump’s latest tariff call to action raised a host of questions without much direction on where the answers might lie. What criteria define how a movie is produced overseas? Would the tariffs affect only future releases or would they also apply to films already in the market, like the the wildly successful A Minecraft Movie, which was mostly shot in New Zealand? US film studios often shoot overseas with the help of incentives from countries. The tariffs almost certainly would affect foreign-made films such as the Oscar-winning animated film Flow from Latvia.

From the Los Angeles set of a Toyota commercial, director and Tulsa King actor James Quattrochi told CNET that his phone began to blow up last night on the Trump news. «Everyone’s calling me and I go, ‘I’m not the White House, why are you asking me?'»

As pointed out by The Hollywood Reporter and others, it’s unclear how streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu would be affected, such as the potential impact on subscriber fees and the kinds of content that those services offer. And what about TV shows? Among the top hits on Netflix alone are Squid Game, from South Korea, and The Crown, from the UK.

Trump contended in his social media post that foreign tax incentives for movie production amount to «a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,» which allows him to levy tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. That claim would be open to legal challenge.

It’s also unclear if film tariffs would be considered legal in light of Section 1702 of the US Code, which explicitly prohibits a president from regulating imports and exports of films, publications and other media.

Filmmakers weigh in

The entertainment industry is grappling with what the tariff initiative, if implemented, could mean. In one estimate from The Wrap, an expert suggested it could cost Netflix $3 billion a year and cut 20% from its earnings.

Meanwhile, some independent filmmakers and workers noted that their industries have struggled to keep film productions in the US and that tariffs might spur reconsideration of film towns such as Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta.

Quattrochi, who is in three film-related unions, said it’s been difficult to push for incentives in California and to keep costs down.

«It’s just so expensive. And we’re fighting. … The UK, Ireland, Canada and other countries are really getting a lot of work,» he said. If tariffs against foreign film production do happen, he said, it could be enough to keep work in places like Hollywood. «People are complaining that there’s no work because everything’s leaving the country.»

Talk of a foreign movie tariff, he said, could raise awareness of the film industry’s struggle to keep it local. «Hopefully this open’s everybody’s eyes that the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles, is no longer. We need to do something.»

Filmmaker David Wortham Brooks owns a production company that Disney bought in 2019 and sold back to him in 2023. He said he’s still weighing the implications the potential tariffs will have on foreign films and licensing.

Brooks has worked on films in Morocco, Bangladesh and England, but has been based in Los Angeles primarily. As far as keeping shooting in the US, he says he favors Trump’s idea.

«Anything that could bring production back to LA, I’m all for it,» Brooks said. «The proposition of bringing it back to the states, particularly back to Hollywood, is very appealing to me. It has been slow; everything that can be done to mobilize the workforce, it is welcome in my book.»

Technologies

Wisconsin Reverses Decision to Ban VPNs in Age-Verification Bill

The law would have required websites to block VPN users from accessing «harmful material.»

Following a wave of criticism, Wisconsin lawmakers have decided not to include a ban on VPN services in their age-verification law, making its way through the state legislature.

Wisconsin Senate Bill 130 (and its sister Assembly Bill 105), introduced in March 2025, aims to prohibit businesses from «publishing or distributing material harmful to minors» unless there is a reasonable «method to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the website.»

One provision would have required businesses to bar people from accessing their sites via «a virtual private network system or virtual private network provider.»

A VPN lets you access the internet via an encrypted connection, enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content. While using a VPN, your IP address and physical location are masked, and your internet service provider doesn’t know which websites you visit.

Wisconsin state Sen. Van Wanggaard moved to delete that provision in the legislation, thereby releasing VPNs from any liability. The state assembly agreed to remove the VPN ban, and the bill now awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s signature.

Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the digital freedom nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Wisconsin’s U-turn is «great news.»

«This shows the power of public advocacy and pushback,» Alajaji says. «Politicians heard the VPN users who shared their worries and fears, and the experts who explained how the ban wouldn’t work.»

Earlier this week, the EFF had written an open letter arguing that the draft laws did not «meaningfully advance the goal of keeping young people safe online.» The EFF said that blocking VPNs would harm many groups that rely on that software for private and secure internet connections, including «businesses, universities, journalists and ordinary citizens,» and that «many law enforcement professionals, veterans and small business owners rely on VPNs to safely use the internet.»

VPNs can also help you get around age-verification laws — for instance, if you live in a state or country that requires age verification to access certain material, you can use a VPN to make it look like you live elsewhere, thereby gaining access to that material. As age-restriction laws increase around the US, VPN use has also increased. However, many people are using free VPNs, which are fertile ground for cybercriminals.

In its letter to Wisconsin lawmakers prior to the reversal, the EFF argued that it is «unworkable» to require websites to block VPN users from accessing adult content. The EFF said such sites cannot «reliably determine» where a VPN customer lives — it could be any US state or even other countries.

«As a result, covered websites would face an impossible choice: either block all VPN users everywhere, disrupting access for millions of people nationwide, or cease offering services in Wisconsin altogether,» the EFF wrote.

Wisconsin is not the only state to consider VPN bans to prevent access to adult material. Last year, Michigan introduced the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, which would ban all use of VPNs. If passed, it would force ISPs to detect and block VPN usage and also ban the sale of VPNs in the state. Fines could reach $500,000.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 21 #720

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 21, No. 720.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be easy for those who pursue a certain hobby. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: The beer necessities.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Cheers!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

MALE, TREAT, STEAM, TEAM, MOVE, LOVE, ROVE, ROVER, SPEAR, PEAR

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

HOPS, WATER, MALT, YEAST, BARLEY, SUGAR, WHEAT, FLAVOR

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is HOMEBREW. To find it, start with the H that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 21, #986

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 21 #986.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features another of those purple categories where you need to look for hidden words inside of other words. It can be a real stumper. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rookies don’t have this.

Green group hint: Call the roll.

Blue group hint: How’d you do today?

Purple group hint: Vroom-vroom, but with a twist.