Cannes 2025: Wes Anderson responds to Donald Trump’s tariff plans
At the Cannes Film Festival on May 19th, director Wes Anderson responded to President Donald Trump’s plans to introduce a 100 per cent tariff on non-American-made movies.
On May 4th, Trump took to Truth Social to claim that the US film industry is dying a “very fast death” and alleged it is a result of “a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.”
While no official plan has been announced, Trump is now discussing his next move with the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to “immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands”.
The planned tariffs have been a major talking point throughout Cannes. Upon accepting his honorary Palme d’Or, Robert De Niro used his speech to rail against Trump, stating, “You can’t put a price on creativity, but apparently you can put a tariff on it. Of course, this is unacceptable.”
He continued, “All of these attacks are unacceptable. And this isn’t just an American problem, it’s a global one. Like a film, we can’t just all sit back and watch. We have to act, and we have to act now.”
Now, Anderson was probed on the subject during the press conference for his new movie, The Phoenician Scheme, on May 19th.
The director said of his perspective: “The tariff is fascinating, because the 100 per cent tariff, I’ve never heard of it before. I’m not an expert, but it sounds as though he’s saying he’s going to take all the money. So, what do we get? If you hold up the movie in customs, I’m not sure it works that way. I need to know the official details.”
Anderson’s comments arrive after Kristen Stewart, who brought her directorial debut The Chronology of Water to Cannes, expressed her fears about the tariff proposal, stating, “We discuss this every day, like, what’s gonna happen? [Especially] now that we’ve finally found our voices … Not that it wasn’t treacherous before but now, [it is] in a way that is so literal, so strikingly essential and vital, but naturally terrifying.”
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