The fire of party struggle reaches Hollywood: The power struggle behind Trump's tariff policy also serves as a lesson for the crypto world.

Political strife is rising again, and Trump actually wielded the big stick of tariffs against Hollywood movies in the United States, announcing a 100% tariff. Trump argued that America's national security is once again under threat, and this time, the source of the threat is movies, those films from abroad.
On May 5, Trump authorized the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to immediately initiate procedures to impose a 100% tariff on all movies produced abroad and entering the United States. This news hit like a bombshell, causing a huge uproar globally. After all, the U.S. movie market has always been firmly controlled by Hollywood films, with 90% of the box office going into Hollywood's pockets, while other "foreign films" can only scrape a meager share of the leftovers in the U.S. market.
However, Hollywood movies sweep across other countries around the world, capturing 56% of the global box office, which accounts for 56% of the total box office of all countries combined! In the top 50 box office films in global film history, American films occupy 49 seats, accounting for a staggering 98%, with the only exception being the Chinese animated film "Ne Zha." These data undoubtedly show that American films hold an absolute dominant position globally and have long been an important means of American cultural invasion, serving as a significant pillar of American soft power.
The influence of American movies cannot be underestimated. It does not require deliberate efforts; as long as a person grows up watching American films, it becomes difficult to develop a negative perception of America. If American movies cleverly highlight the greatness and kindness of the United States in subtle details, the effect is even more significant. But if Trump imposes a 100% tariff on all foreign-produced films entering the U.S., does he not fear that other countries will retaliate in kind and impose a 100% tariff on American films as well? If that happens, America would suffer greatly.
It is important to know that movie box office belongs to the service trade sector, and the United States is the world's largest surplus country in this regard. Tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Google, as well as various intellectual properties, bring back huge profits to the U.S. every year. Once a precedent is set for imposing tariffs on service trade, the U.S. is bound to suffer heavy losses. This is similar to the crypto world; once market rules are broken, the interests of all parties will be severely impacted, and market order will fall into chaos.
Therefore, imposing tariffs on foreign films is undoubtedly a super unfavorable choice for the United States, clearly seriously harming American interests. So, why does Trump want to do this? Don't rush to conclusions, because the American interests that Trump wants to harm go far beyond this.
Note that the news statement does not imply a 100% tariff on all foreign films, but rather a 100% tariff on "films produced abroad entering the United States," with the emphasis on "produced abroad" rather than merely "foreign." Does this mean that even Hollywood films, as long as they are produced outside the United States, will incur a 100% tariff? Yes, this is exactly the idea that Trump is pursuing. He is well aware that Hollywood films in the U.S. enjoy 90% of the box office, so imposing tariffs on the remaining 10% of the box office is not very meaningful. Therefore, the focus of this 100% tariff initiative is not on a specific foreign entity but rather on Hollywood films in the U.S. itself, with the aim of putting Hollywood films out of business.
To reduce costs and enjoy tax benefits, 70% of film production costs for American movies are spent outside the United States, mainly concentrated in the other four eyes of the Five Eyes alliance, especially in the UK, Australia, and Canada. According to Trump's policy, all Hollywood movies will be classified as "foreign-produced films entering the United States," regardless of whether they are Hollywood films, and will have to pay a 100% tariff. At most, only the 30% of costs incurred for shooting and production within the United States will be exempt from taxes, but the remaining 70% tax is unavoidable.
This is not a collateral damage by Trump, but rather a deliberate act on his part. Trump candidly stated on social media: "Other countries are using various incentives to 'attract American filmmakers and studios away from the United States.' Hollywood has therefore 'suffered a heavy blow,' and the American film industry is 'rapidly declining,' which poses a 'national security threat' to the United States." This statement clearly indicates that the purpose of his tariff policy is aimed at American Hollywood films, and it is by no means collateral damage.
Hollywood movies have not shifted their production to the Asia, Africa, and Latin America regions, as most productions remain in the UK, Australia, and Canada. The living and wage levels in these regions are not lower than those in the United States. Hollywood chooses to film here mainly because they can enjoy policy benefits, and these regions are willing to provide incentives because they can still make a profit after the discounts. In other words, as long as Trump is willing to offer the same favorable conditions as those in the UK, Australia, and Canada, he can bring Hollywood productions back to the United States, and investment and employment will flow back as well. Why resort to imposing a 100% tariff, which severely harms American interests?
In fact, Trump's actions are not aimed at bringing Hollywood productions back to the U.S. territory; they are purely intended to strike at Hollywood. What is Hollywood? It is one of the strongholds of the extreme left in America, where almost everyone is a staunch Democrat, the arch-enemy of Trump. The interests of Hollywood may align with those of the U.S., but they are definitely not in line with Trump's interests.
Moreover, Hollywood is located in California, which is the deepest blue state in the United States, a stronghold of the Democratic Party, and the place that opposes Trump the most in the entire country. This time, when Trump started the tariff war, California not only opposed it but also took the lead in opposing it across the United States. California Governor Gavin Newsom publicly emphasized in an interview that "California is not the United States of America," and its values are completely different from those of the current occupant of the White House. California has also sued the U.S. federal government over the tariff issue, accusing it of abusing tariff policy illegally. Additionally, California has called for countries that suffer from "reciprocal tariffs" to exempt California products when retaliating, in order to reduce the impact on California's economy, and emphasized that it would "open its doors" to all trading partners, including China, believing that global trade is not a zero-sum game, but rather interdependent. In simple terms, California strongly opposes Trump's tariff policy and refuses to comply!
California's actions are not only driven by its own vested interests but also benefit the Democratic Party while being detrimental to the Republican Party. California is engaging in party rivalry, severely hindering Trump on key issues. Regardless of right or wrong, anything Trump advocates is opposed, especially since Trump's recent actions have indeed seriously harmed California's interests.
Since California is acting this way, Trump naturally won't hold back either; it's just party rivalry, who wouldn't? Hollywood is in California and brings in a large amount of dollar profits each year, with 70% of production costs spent outside the U.S. in regions like the UK, Australia, and Canada. Trump directly raised the banner of a 100% tariff, and the official reason is to "protect" American films, which seems quite grandiose. However, the result of this move will inevitably deal a heavy blow to Hollywood films in the U.S., and California's economy, as well as the U.S. economy, will suffer serious damage.
After all, 56% of the global box office comes from Hollywood in the United States, while other countries contribute their own box office but only receive a small portion from the American box office. If this situation is shaken or targeted, Hollywood will suffer greatly. Although Hollywood puts 70% of its productions abroad, they are all placed in the UK, Australia, and Canada, which is beneficial for the United States to attract allies. Moreover, Hollywood brings all the profits back to the United States; as long as the profits stay in the U.S., it helps the U.S. economy, and after circulating, the entire economy will become active. The first beneficiary is indeed California, but California and the United States are one entity. After California benefits, these advantages will slowly spill over to various parts of the U.S., including the rust belt where the rednecks are.
The film industry is a dominant sector in the United States and a high-profit industry, serving as one of the important pillars supporting the current standard of living in the U.S. Therefore, Trump's policy of imposing a 100% tariff on films is not for the benefit of the United States, nor for American cinema; it is purely for partisan struggle, simply an attempt to show California a bit of color, and a display of force to intimidate California and the Democratic Party.
As for this policy setting a precedent, the overall service trade surplus of the United States may be affected, potentially subject to targeted tariffs from other countries, and Trump is indifferent. This is because nearly all of the service trade surplus in the U.S. is earned by companies aligned with the Democratic Party, making this sector inherently deep blue. Therefore, whether it incurs losses or not has nothing to do with Trump; in fact, incurring losses might be better.
Hollywood has been slowly decaying and declining in recent years, with the quality of films deteriorating year by year, and its dominant position is precarious. With Trump making such a move, the quality of Hollywood movies may directly collapse. Since Trump has set his sights on this, it won't end easily; Hollywood cannot calm this down without paying a price. Whether it's rising production costs or declining profits, it's a blow to Hollywood, which is already struggling, making it even harder to produce good works.
In order to shake the global cultural hegemony of Hollywood, China has tried countless methods over the years. It wasn't until the release of "Ne Zha" in 2025 that it barely made a small counterattack. However, Trump's move directly undermines this effort, striking Hollywood tenfold more than "Ne Zha". Nevertheless, Trump is not doing this to help China; it's purely for party rivalry.
This matter perfectly demonstrates why the importance of party strife is greater than national interests, and why party strife is regarded as a sign of a nation's downfall in Chinese historical texts. When the cake is getting bigger and bigger, party strife can still be kept within limits and at a low intensity, and everyone can share the new cake together first. However, once the national power weakens, the cake can no longer grow, and when there is no new cake to eat, party strife will suddenly become countless times more intense. The two sides of the party strife will devour each other to satisfy their own appetites, and in this process, national interests will suffer serious damage.
When a country is weakened, only sincere unity can possibly overcome difficulties, but for both sides, their optimal choice is party strife, and this is the only choice. Therefore, in countries where party strife occurs, as long as the national strength weakens, they will collapse in a very short time, without exception from ancient times to the present. Many small countries in modern times emulate the United States by establishing a two-party system, but they end up causing chaos in their own countries. The fundamental reason is that the United States is thriving, while these small countries are not, deeply trapped in intense party strife.
But which country can guarantee that it will always thrive? There will always be a day when national strength declines. Destroying American interests to ensure victory in party struggles is an inevitable choice for Trump, and the United States will eventually walk this path. As for the result, many small countries that have imitated the American system have already provided experimental results, and similar records in Chinese history books are numerous. This is just like the crypto world; once the market falls into chaos and party struggles, all parties fight endlessly for their own interests, and the ultimate damage is to the entire industry and market participants.