Europe Bows Down To Trump's Tariffs and China Slaps Hollywood with a Time-Out

Europe Bows Down To Trump's Tariffs and China Slaps Hollywood with a Time-Out

The United States woke up to a double whammy of good news on Thursday that’s got trade hawks cheering and Hollywood execs sweating. In a one-two punch of global developments, the European Union rolled over on tariffs, while China decided to throw a fit and take it out on Tinseltown.

According to The Daily Mail, the EU blinked first, announcing a 90-day truce on retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. This comes hot on the heels of President Trump’s Wednesday decision to hit the pause button on tariffs targeting over 75 countries for the same stretch of time. Whether EU nations were part of Trump’s tariff timeout club remains a bit of a mystery for now.

“We’re giving talks a shot,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, sounding cautiously optimistic. “But if the negotiations flop, our countermeasures are ready to roll.” She’s pushing for a “zero-for-zero” deal on industrial goods—a pitch the EU thinks might soothe some of Trump’s trade gripes, as The Gateway Pundit previously noted.

Don’t hold your breath, though. Trump’s not likely to settle for half-measures, especially since von der Leyen conveniently sidestepped any mention of opening Europe’s snooty markets to American farm goods. To the EU elite, U.S. agriculture is apparently some kind of toxic stepchild compared to their oh-so-superior harvests.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific, China’s communist overlords decided to flex their own muscles—and Hollywood’s getting the bruises. In a delicious twist, Beijing’s slamming the brakes on American movie imports, a direct jab in response to Trump’s latest tariff salvo against Chinese goods.

“The U.S. government’s tariff tantrum is only going to make our people like American films even less,” the China Film Administration sneered in a Thursday statement. “We’re playing by market rules, respecting what our audiences want, and cutting back on Hollywood flicks accordingly.” The National Film Administration doubled down on the snub, echoing the same line on its website.

This isn’t the first time China’s rattled its saber at Hollywood. TGP’s Jim Hoft earlier flagged rumors of a potential U.S. film ban as Beijing’s retaliation to Trump’s trade offensive against America’s biggest rival.

Now, it’s official—and conservatives are popping the popcorn.

Social media lit up with jubilation from the right, with many hoping this might finally force Hollywood to churn out films that don’t paint America as the world’s punching bag. Others couldn’t resist a victory lap, delighting in the irony of an industry that’s kowtowed to China’s censors for years now getting a taste of its own medicine.

For Team Trump, it’s a banner morning: Europe’s on its heels, China’s in a huff, and Hollywood’s left clutching its pearls. Trade wars just got a whole lot more entertaining.