A proposed 100% tariff on films produced outside the United States, floated by President Donald Trump over the weekend, has rattled the global film industry—but in the Czech Republic, key players say the impact would be significant, though not catastrophic. Considering the types of foreign productions that have filmed in Czechia in recent years, the region may also be better prepared for potential tariffs than other popular destinations.
“No final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made,” a White House spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, slightly walking back Trump’s Sunday night announcement. Still, the administration insists it is exploring options to “safeguard our national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again.”
That hasn’t stopped the film world from reacting with confusion and alarm, especially in countries like the Czech Republic, where American productions form a large part of the industry’s income. Speaking to Czech News Agency on Monday, Vratislav Šlajer, chairman of the Czech Audiovisual Producers’ Association, estimated that American projects make up roughly half of all foreign productions in the country.
“It would have an impact, but it wouldn’t be devastating,” Šlajer said. He pointed to the adaptability of Czech producers, who endured the 2023 Hollywood strikes and continue to attract European and non-Western productions. “We survived that,” he said. “We’re not dependent on just one type of client.”
Still, Trump’s announcement has raised difficult questions for an industry deeply integrated across borders. Would the tariff apply to streaming productions like those from Netflix, Amazon, or Apple TV+, which often shoot in Prague but are headquartered globally? Would international co-productions be exempt? What qualifies as an “American” film in a post-studio, platform-driven era?
Šlajer noted that 70–80% of current productions are for internet and television platforms, not traditional theatrical releases. “These platforms are global,” he said. “They don’t create content solely in the U.S.—it’s done in Europe, Korea, elsewhere. It’s not clear how tariffs would even apply.”
Helena Bezděk Fraňková, director of the Czech Audiovisual Fund, voiced similar concerns, pointing out the legal and logistical complexities. “Platforms are not territorially separated. Who would be paying whom, and under what rules?” she asked. She added that companies like Netflix and Disney have their European headquarters in Amsterdam and Paris, respectively, and already avoid U.S. shoots due to cost. “It’s roughly 40% more expensive to film in the U.S. than in Europe.”
The Czech Ministry of Culture said it is monitoring the situation and will analyze any potential impact on the country’s audiovisual sector. “It’s premature to speculate about concrete consequences,” ministry spokesperson Jana Malíková told Czech News Agency, noting that support for the film industry remains a government priority. Recent amendments to Czech law have increased local film incentives to 25% for general productions and up to 35% for animation and post-production.
Circumstances within the Czech film industry may have inadvertently prepared it for Trump’s proposed tariffs, which specifically refer to movies as opposed to TV or streaming content. Those types of productions, which tie revenue to advertising and subscription fees, may be more difficult to tax than theatrical productions whose earnings are more easily countable from box office receipts.
In 2022, a refurbished Czech incentives plan placed a per-project cap on supported projects, effectively turning away the type of big-budget blockbuster that might be most impacted by the proposed tariffs. Czechia’s new incentives plan has significantly increased that per-project cap, but the country has mostly seen TV and streaming productions in recent years, as opposed to blockbusters like Dune, Alien: Romulus, or Black Widow, which have all filmed in nearby Budapest.
In recent years, Prague has been a popular filming location for prestige TV productions including Blade Runner 2099, Carnival Row, and The Wheel of Time for Amazon, Dangerous Liaisons for Starz, Foundation for Apple TV+, and Interview with the Vampire for AMC.
The contemporary spy series Ride or Die, starring Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham, is being filmed in Prague through June, while a new Netflix adaptation of The Age of Innocence is expected to film in the Czech capital later this year.
Hollywood films that have shot in Prague recently include Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, the John Wick spinoff Ballerina, the reboot of The Crow, and the Adam Sandler drama Spaceman, though the last one to spend over $50 million locally was the Netflix sequel Extraction II. The Czech Republic competes with Hungary, Poland, Germany and Slovakia in attracting these foreign shoots.
For now, Czech officials are proceeding with cautious optimism—and a sense of realism. As Šlajer put it, “We expect American filmmakers themselves to push back hard on this.”
“Consider the rich tradition of U.S. studios filming in Europe since the 1950s, which has always been enriching for both sides of the ocean,” Pavlína Žipková from the Czech Film Commission told Variety on Monday. “[Trump’s] statement raises more questions than answers, [but] it doesn’t slow us down.”
Lead photo: Behind the scenes of Nosferatu (2024) courtesy Focus Features / Aidan Monaghan
