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President Donald Trump found humor in China’s decision to limit the number of Hollywood films it imports amidst the ongoing trade war with the United States.
Trump was asked about China’s most recent retaliatory action during a Cabinet meeting at the White House Thursday afternoon.
Hollywood is notoriously liberal, with a number of top Democratic donors working in the film business.
‘I think I’ve heard of worse things,’ Trump said, with a laugh and grin, prompting Cabinet members to join in.
While China’s move may make a statement, industry analysts told Reuters Thursday that it will hardly make a dent in the U.S. film industry.
That’s because Hollywood’s box office returns in China have declined significanly in recent years.
Hollywood movies make up only 5 percent of China’s box office revenue. In addition, Hollywood studios receive just 25 percent of ticket sales in China, while they earn double that in other international markets. This information was shared by Chris Fenton, the author of Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business.
Still Fenton said ‘such a high-profile punishment of Hollywood’ would ‘surely be noticed by Washington.’
During a Thursday Cabinet meeting, President Trump chuckled at the news of China’s restrictions on importing Hollywood films as part of the broader trade tensions between the two countries.
Trump, however, indicated that he did not care.
In a dramatic decision Wednesday, the president escalated his trade war with China, while at the same time putting the brakes on reciprocal tariffs that would have harmed trading partners in the region, including India and Vietnam.
Trump kept a 10 percent tariff rate on countries around the world and paused the higher tariffs for 90 days.
At the same time, he pushed up tariffs on Chinese exports from the already eye-popping 104 percent to 125 percent.
Beijing smacked back Thursday saying it would immediately restrict the importation of Hollywood films.
The latest Marvel film, Thunderbolts, was expected to have a theatrical release in China on April 30.
It’s unclear if that will happen now.
The stock market surged Wednesday after Trump announced the 90-day pause on some of the heftiest tariffs, but was sagging again Thursday.
The latest Marvel movie, Thunderbolts, will be released state-side on May 2 but was supposed to hit Chinese theaters on April 30. It’s unclear if that already-done-deal will be impacted by the ongoing trade war
‘Well, I haven’t seen it because I’ve been here for two and a half hours,’ Trump replied when asked about it during the Cabinet meeting. ‘So I’ll be seeing it,’ he added.
On making a deal with China, Trump said ‘we’ll see what happens.’
‘They’ve really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time. They’ve ripped us off beyond anybody, nobody,’ Trump said.
He, again, blasted his predecessors for the U.S.-China trade imbalance.
‘What we’re doing is putting it back in shape, we’re resetting the table,’ Trump claimed.
He added that he had ‘great respect’ for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He’s been, in a true sense, he’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time,’ Trump said. ‘And I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries. I look forward to it.’
