🎬 I’m telling you, Hollywood, so you understand, Netflix
The threat of tariffs on films produced outside the United States is a warning to Netflix, whose international model has allowed it to cut costs and navigate the ups and downs of the local industry.
Maxentius knows that an emperor can dispense with popular favor, but not when he has to endure a siege.— Aldo Cazzullo
Economicón is Mexico’s privacy and information society newsletter.
Help Economicón by purchasing a Substack subscription, donating with Patreon, or contributing with PayPal.
🧘 Your spirit will feel it.
Movie duties. Netflix would be the company hit hardest by the tariffs proposed by Donald Trump on Hollywood productions made outside the United States.
If Trump imposes a 100% tariff on the import of movies and TV series, Netflix will have to rebuild an international production model that has helped it cut costs and shield itself from the ups and downs of the domestic industry.
During the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strike that paralyzed Hollywood, Netflix was the only company able to offer new content to its subscribers thanks to its vast overseas inventory. (Los Angeles Times)
🏭 The pandemic taught Netflix to diversify its production units and build a global supply chain—from Mexico to Seoul, passing through London, Mumbai, and Madrid.
📈 Streaming wars. Netflix is the only Hollywood company seeing significant growth in both paid subscriber numbers and stock value, unlike Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount.
Culture wars. Netflix’s biggest challenge with Trump is its catalog. Though vast and diverse, its content offering tends to reflect woke culture and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) values—policies that Trump has declared war on. (NPR)
Corporate giants have begun to scale back or abandon such policies in favor of disadvantaged communities and groups, starting with Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Walmart, IBM, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s, and Paramount. (Forbes)
Reed Hastings, the more disruptive half of Netflix’s leadership duo, donated millions to Democrat Kamala Harris’s campaign and previously supported efforts to persuade Biden not to seek reelection—a clear stance against Trump. (Efe)
Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s other top executive, has been more political and cordial. In December, he visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence, to pay his respects. No one knows if any commitments were made during that meeting. (Deadline)
To top it off, Netflix has contracts with Trump’s major adversaries—like the Obama family.
Trump’s tariff threat against Hollywood may have gone too far, risking the entire industry, but he remains firm in the White House’s new credo: tariffs serve three purposes—to punish, to attract investment, or to impose standards and policies on others. Apply accordingly, depending on the goal. (Economicón)
🍿 “Never say never. I've had many, many things that were not doable and they ended up being doable and only doable in a very friendly way,” Trump recently said. (ABC News)
🌪️ Get yourself in line, or I’ll put you in line. Netflix’s production model is in Trump’s crosshairs. The threat of tariffs may be a wake-up call for a company that has transformed everything—including how movies and series are made.
About me
I’m José Soto Galindo, a journalist. I was Director of Media at INAI, the national transparency and privacy agency of Mexico. I led El Economista online from 2010 to 2024, and before that, I was a news editor at Público-Milenio (2001-2009). I hold a Master’s degree in Transparency and Personal Data Protection and have specializations in telecommunications law and information technology law. I teach journalism at the Universidad de Guadalajara.