The entertainment industry woke up on Thursday to the reality that its turn of the economic corner is more elusive than ever. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs against 180 countries sent global markets reeling, with U.S. stocks seeing their biggest one-day plunge since 2020 and unleashing dire predictions for the economy, including a looming recession.
For Hollywood, which has been trying to right itself since the pandemic, the actors and writers’ strikes and more recently the wildfires, it was one more plunge into the unknown.
Intellectual property like films and TV shows will not be directly subjected to tariffs as a “service,” which instead hit consumer goods including cars, iPhones, clothing, wine, coffee and chocolate.