As The Hollywood Reporter notes, China has invested heavily in its own entertainment apparatus, so that in recent years U.S. studios’ earnings “have declined drastically.” Nevertheless, it’s still a significant market; for instance, last weekend’s domestic winner A Minecraft Movie opened in first place in China “with ticket sales of $14.5 million, just over 10 percent of its $144 international earnings haul,” per THR. The outlet notes that last year’s biggest win at the Chinese box office was Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which made $132 million. (For comparison, the film made $375.5 million total internationally, and $196.5 million in the U.S.) Studios typically earn a 25 percent share of ticket sales for these films under previous trade agreements with the country.
The list comes after Trump threatened to impose additional 50 percent tariffs on China due to the country’s response to his first round of tariffs. Now, in addition to banning Hollywood movies, the Chinese government is considering “‘Significantly’ increasing tariffs on US agricultural products, such as soybeans and sorghum,” “Banning the import of US poultry,” “Imposing curbs on US services with China,” “Suspending China-US cooperation on fentanyl-related issues,” and “Investigating the intellectual property benefits of US companies operating in China,” per Bloomberg.
“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement (via The Associated Press). “The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.” In the words of Jezebel‘s Kylie Cheung, “Is that good???“
