Donald Trump is laughing off China‘s decision to reduce the number of U.S. movies it allows to play in the country. The China Film Administration confirmed the reduction on April 10 after reports surfaced a day earlier. Hours later, Trump was asked at a press conference about the decision.
“I think I’ve heard of worse things,” Trump answered while laughing and cracking a smile as the room of reporters also chuckled.
China’s announcement that it’s cutting back on the import of U.S. films came in the wake of Trump’s latest round of tariffs. The president announced a 90-day pause for several countries but increased tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%. China’s retaliatory tariffs are at 84%.
“The wrong action of the U.S. government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability towards American films,” the China Film Administration said in a response statement. “We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.”
Hollywood is currently sitting at the top of China’s box office charts thanks to the blockbuster success of “A Minecraft Movie,” which debuted with a massive $313 million during its global opening weekend. “Minecraft” was the first U.S. film that managed to dethrone China’s animated movie “Ne Zha 2,” which has been a runaway success in the country with $2.11 billion in 10 weeks.
Just how China’s moderate reduction of U.S. films will take shape remains to be seen. Marvel’s summer tentpole “Thunderbolts*” was expected to screen in Imax, for instance, but it’s to be determined if that plan now gets upended. Other summer movies hoping for Imax screens include “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “Superman.”
An Imax spokesperson told Variety: “We are pleased that China Film Administration has clarified its position on U.S. film imports and highly confident – given our decades of business and strong relationships in the country — that Imax’s robust slate in China, which includes Hollywood, Chinese and international films, will not be materially impacted. We continue to expect a strong year for Imax in China, coming off our highest grossing first quarter ever in the country.”
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