Beijing Considers Striking Hollywood as Trade Tensions Intensify
As trade tensions between the United States and China deepen under the renewed tariff threats by former President Donald Trump, Beijing is reportedly considering a bold move: blocking the release of Hollywood films in the country’s lucrative box office market. This potential retaliation is part of a broader set of countermeasures being evaluated by Chinese authorities in response to Trump’s newly proposed 104% tariffs on Chinese imports, according to reports circulating on Chinese social media.
Identical Posts by High-Profile Figures Fuel Speculation
The speculation began when two influential figures—Liu Hong, a senior editor at China’s state-backed Xinhua News Agency, and Ren Yi, a prominent political commentator and grandson of a former Communist Party leader, released identical posts on Chinese platforms outlining possible retaliatory actions. Among the measures listed: banning or reducing the import of U.S. films, boosting tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods, and increasing restrictions on American service industries.
Both individuals attributed the information to unnamed sources close to government planning. Bloomberg was the first major Western outlet to report the coordinated posts, which have since drawn significant attention across both the political and entertainment landscapes.
Hollywood’s Shrinking Footprint in China Faces New Threat
Although U.S. films have traditionally performed well in China, their box office share has steadily declined in recent years. Chinese audiences have increasingly gravitated toward local-language blockbusters, prompting authorities to favor domestic films in major release windows. Still, the U.S. film industry continues to rely on the Chinese market for global box office success.
In 2024, Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment scored a hit with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which grossed $132 million in China alone. More recently, their co-produced A Minecraft Movie debuted at $14.5 million in China—approximately 10% of its global opening weekend revenue, according to Box Office Mojo.
Regulatory Control Gives Beijing Leverage Over Film Imports
China’s film regulatory authorities exercise near-total control over which foreign films are allowed to be released in the country. Under the current quota system, only 34 revenue-sharing foreign films are permitted each year, where U.S. studios typically retain around 25% of ticket sales. Other movies are distributed through a flat-fee buyout model, further limiting profitability for international studios.
Release dates are also tightly managed, with top-grossing holidays and festival slots often reserved for domestic productions. Strict content censorship rules give regulators the final say over what films get shown—providing a powerful tool for retaliation should Beijing decide to weaponize Hollywood access in the trade standoff.
Film Sector: A Rare U.S. Trade Surplus With China
Interestingly, the movie industry remains one of the few sectors where the U.S. runs a trade surplus with China. While Chinese films dominate their domestic market, they have made minimal inroads in North America or Europe. That makes the entertainment sector a unique flashpoint in the broader trade conflict—one that could hurt both economies in asymmetric ways.
For now, no official ban has been enacted, but the mounting rhetoric and social media signals suggest that Hollywood could be next in line if tariff negotiations between Washington and Beijing further deteriorate.