culture is currency: why trump's tariff plan is really about control
eg. talking about Trump’s new tariff plan on all movies produced outside of the U.S and what South Korea’s success reveals about treating culture as a national asset, not a threat.
Hi friends,
I’m hitting pause on my part 2 fandom essay to talk about Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on all films produced outside the U.S.
I’ll be honest- I was really upset when I saw the news. As someone who cares deeply about freedom of speech and artistic expression, this proposed tariff is incredibly concerning.
But weirdly enough, it overlaps with some of the K-pop research I’ve been doing. South Korea’s decision to invest in culture and the arts is actually a huge part of how it became the economic powerhouse it is today.
On Sunday, Trump announced that he would impose a 100% tariff on all movies produced outside of the U.S. His reasoning? That Hollywood is “dying,” and this would somehow bring it back to life.
It’s true that parts of Hollywood have gone global. Many major American films are shot abroad for financial reasons like cheaper labor, tax incentives etc etc.
Even classically “American” projects, like Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) and Emily in Paris (2020- ), were filmed across Europe. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), which won Best Picture at the Oscars, had co-production support from Hong Kong.
International co-productions aren’t rare, they’re the norm. In today’s industry, art is already a global collaboration.
And yes, while there are valid concerns about the industry moving away from LA, it’s global collaboration that’s keeping the industry afloat.
In fact, international box office revenues make up the majority of earnings for many major films, and overseas production hubs now play a crucial role in getting mid-budget and indie films made at all.
So is this really the solution? Is slapping a tariff on movies not made in the U.S. going to help revive Hollywood?
hollywood isn’t dying — it’s evolving
It feels like some version of this topic comes up in conversation almost every week for me.
Hollywood is in flux. The WGA and SAG strikes revealed deep cracks in the foundation of the entertainment industry — stagnant wages, shrinking residuals, and a pay model that clearly doesn’t hold up in the streaming era.
And now there’s AI: like every major technological shift (helloooo industrial revolution), it’s threatening to replace not just jobs but the creative process itself (which is why I believe it’s absolutely crucial that artists learn how to use it as a tool before they get shut out entirely but that’s a conversation for another day).
Meanwhile, the streaming bubble is starting to wobble. Studios are merging, cutting costs, and slashing slates Netflix alone reduced its original film output by nearly half between 2022 and 2024.
As a screenwriter, it’s never been more obvious to me that the access points are narrowing. Platforms like Coverfly are shutting down and even opportunities like the Nicholl Fellowship, now aligned with the Black List, has raised submission costs and some argue, is signalling a more elitist model.
As a Black List finalist, I can’t overstate how much it’s helped my career and opened doors—but the growing concentration of opportunities in fewer hands isn’t a good thing. It’s getting harder for new voices to break in.
And yet, despite the chaos, Hollywood remains one of the U.S.’s most powerful cultural exports. In 2022 alone, film and TV contributed over $134 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 2 million jobs. Globally, American content still dominates streaming charts, award shows, and fandom spaces.
culture is currency
In the 21st century, culture is currency. What you watch with your friends, what you read on the weekends, the podcasts you play while doing chores around the house — it all shapes how you see yourself. It becomes part of your identity.
So when governments start regulating art, it’s not just about “the economy”. It’s about controlling what people think and feel. It’s about controlling your ideology.
It’s the kind of thing you see in places like China or Saudi Arabia, where the government tightly controls what media people are allowed to consume. And honestly? It hasn’t stopped people from finding ways around it- VPNs are around for a reason!
Now, if Trump’s whole argument is about protecting Hollywood and bringing money back to the U.S., here’s the irony: there is a country that made a massive cultural investment — and it paid off.
They didn’t impose tariffs or block foreign content.
They put real money into their own artists, storytellers, and infrastructure. And now they’re a global cultural powerhouse.
the korean wave
After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, South Korea’s economy was in serious trouble. The government was forced to restructure, and officials began looking for new, innovative sectors to fuel recovery. That moment came when a Korean government official reportedly noticed that Jurassic Park made more revenue than the sale of 1.5 million Hyundai cars — a realization that culture could be just as profitable as heavy industry.
This idea gained momentum in the late 1990s under President Kim Dae-jung, who championed what became known as the “Korean Wave”. His administration actively promoted cultural industries — film, television, music, and later video games — as key to South Korea’s soft power and economic growth.
(There’s an excellent video that goes more into this on Vox’s Explained: K-pop (Season 1, Ep. 17) on Netflix which for the life of me I can’t figure out how to link it on here)
“Pop culture is a national industry now. We’ve treated it that way, and the world responded.”
- Kim Dong-ho, founding director of the Busan International Film Festival
Today, Korea is a cultural superpower. K-pop alone brings in billions. BTS for example, whose fandom I wrote about last week — reportedly contributes over $5 billion annually to the Korean economy. K-dramas dominate global streaming charts. Korean cinema has won Oscars, topped box offices, and built loyal fanbases across continents.
And they didn’t get there by blocking global competition. They got there by investing in their artists.
power and control
If the goal is to “save” Hollywood, to nurture American cinema, there are so many better ways to do that. You could fund education programs. Offer tax breaks for indie filmmakers. Invest in grants and the arts. Promote U.S. films abroad.
But this isn’t really about saving Hollywood. It’s about controlling the audience.
Tariffs on art aren’t like tariffs on steel. They don’t just regulate money. They regulate access. They control who gets seen and heard.
This tariff, when it goes into effect, is anti-free market, it’s anti-growth, it’s anti-art.
This tariff is about controlling you.
what i’m consuming 🍰
Finally starting to watch the new season of Black Mirror. I had to keep pausing on “Bete Noire” just because of all the insane gaslighting going on. It was so stressful to watch! I loved it though.
Which episode should I watch next?
who i am
Hi, I’m Gisella! I’m a repped screenwriter based in Seattle. I directed a feature-length documentary and most recently, my pilot Body Brokers was on the 2024 Blacklist Latine List. Follow me on my journey to get my first screenplay green lit 💚
Great piece!