Why China banning Hollywood films in response to Trump's tariffs could be 'catastrophic'

The ongoing feud between China and the US over tariffs could be about to hit Hollywood and shift the American film industry.

Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day' tariffs haven't exactly been well received across the world. In fact, one long-term trading partner that has very publicly been hitting back against them is China, and it's easy to see why.

Trump announced that the nation would be 104 percent duty on Chinese goods came into effect today (April 9), having said he would slap an extra 50 percent tax on the initial 54 percent tariffs.

Earlier this week, foreign affairs spokesman Lin Jian made it clear that China would be retaliating to this.

He said: "Pressure and threats are not the way to deal with China. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests."

Hollywood could be about to have a shift due to the tariffs (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

However, while China is considering a series of tariffs of their own, one thing they may also be considering is banning or restricting the amount of Hollywood movies shown in the nation.

Reportedly, two influential Chinese bloggers with ties to local authorities shared an identical list that may be introduced by Chinese authorities as ways to retaliate. Included on this list was ‘reducing or banning the important of US films’.

For anyone familiar with film production, this could mean a massive blow for US movie studios due to the massive boost international markets can have on films.

As film costs have ballooned in recent years, being able to sell films to China, one of the largest markets in the world due to its over a billion people population, means studios can make their money back.

US studios would likely take a massive hit if they couldn't rely on the Chinese market(Ken Ishii - Pool/Getty Images)

This is especially true of massive blockbusters or films within established franchises, like Star Wars, Marvel, and DC.

People on social media realized that if China does make this move, it could prove disastrous for film studios.

One Twitter user commented: “The Chinese box office is the world’s second-largest. For studios like Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros, that market is gold.”

Another simply added: “hey so this would be financially catastrophic for the film industry.”

A third wrote: “People rly don't get how much American companies rely on China as a market to sell to.”

And another added: “Big move if true. This could seriously impact Hollywood's box office revenue, especially with how much studios rely on the Chinese market.”

However, some users touted this as an overall good thing for cinema as this would mean studios would have to tailor their films more for the US market than the international.

In addition to this, with more limited spending, studios won’t be able to rely on star-studded casts or special effects to get people interested in their films.