When it comes to China, President Trump is sticking to his tariff script — and he does not appear too worried about China’s communist government cutting the number of American movies it imports in retaliation.
“I think I’ve heard of worse things,” the president said, before smiling and chuckling during a Thursday press conference.
The president’s social media team seemed pretty tickled by the moment and shared it on X soon after:
"China retaliated today by reducing the number of American films that can be shown there. What's your reaction to them now targeting cultural exports?"@POTUS: "I've heard of worse things."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 10, 2025pic.twitter.com/zpseCdDXEX
Earlier in the day, the China Film Administration said it would “moderately reduce” the number of U.S. films that play in its country. The announcement came after President Trump said he was hiking his new tariff on Chinese goods from 104% to 125%; the White House then upped the tariff once again on Thursday, to 145%.
Hours later, President Trump was asked about the movie reduction, where he made the aforementioned comment.
China has responded to the president’s new tariff plan with an 84% retaliatory tariff on American goods.
The China Film Administration, in its statement on Thursday, said the “wrong action” of the U.S. government would “inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability towards American films.”
It was not immediately clear which films would be affected, but Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” — opening in May — had previously been given the go-ahead to play in China and 20th Century Studios’ spy film “The Amateur” is due to be released in the country tomorrow.
In related tariff news, Wall Street was grappling with another down day on Thursday — continuing the rollercoaster ride markets have been on since President Trump announced his “liberation day” tariff plan last week. The Thursday drop comes after the markets blitzed higher on Wednesday, following President Trump’s announcement he was pausing his reciprocal tariffs on most countries for 90 days; the Nasdaq closed Wednesday with its second-best single-day gain ever, while the S&P 500 posted its biggest day since 2008.
The president on Thursday said he was considering reversing course on the 90-day pause, if countries do not strike deals with the U.S. soon; at the same time, he said he would consider extending the 90-day pause if decent progress is made. Stay tuned.
