American films may soon be banned in China in the wake of American tariffs, according to two well-connected Chinese bloggers.
Bloomberg first reported that Liu Hong, a senior editor at Xinhuanet, the website of the state-run Xinhua News Agency — as well as Ren Yi, the grandson of former Guangdong party chief Ren Zhongyi — posted an identical set of potential measures that China may take against the U.S., after Donald Trump’s government imposed 54% tariffs on China.
These retaliatory measures include reducing or banning the import of U.S. films, investigating the intellectual property benefits of American companies operating in China, and imposing curbs on US services with China.
These plans were posted simultaneously over local social media by both Liu and Ren.
China looks set to become one of the key battle zones in the trade war Trump has started, with Beijing politicians vowing to “fight to the end” against the levies and introducing its own counter-tariffs of 34%. Trump has responded by saying he will double the current tariff to 104% should China not back down.
Asian stock markets collapsed to their worst days in years following announcement of the tariffs, which affect almost every country in the world.
While box office gross from American films in China have drastically declined since the heyday of 2012 to 2019 prior to the pandemic, losing China — the second-largest film market in the world — would still mark a massive financial step back for U.S. studios.
Last weekend, A Minecraft Movie from Warner Bros. and Legendary opened in China in first place, with ticket sales of $14.5M, which makes up just over 10% of the film’s $144M international box office takings.
In 2024, the biggest American film release in China was Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, also from Warner Bros. and Legendary, which eventually raked in $132M at the Chinese box office.
