I realize it's just another hair-brained scheme likely cooked up on the porcelain throne, but part of me is curious about how exactly they'd implement this train wreck.<p>Since Trump is relying on declarations of national emergencies for his tariffs, there's the question whether it's even <i>legal</i> given that Berman Amendments to the IEEPA[0] explicitly exempt "informational materials, including but not limited to, publications, *films*, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche, tapes, compact disks, CD ROMs, artworks, and news wire feeds" from the President's authority under IEEPA.[1]<p>Even if we set that aside and ignore the likely legal challenges, how would you actually implement them? It's not like a movie or TV episode "produced" overseas gets transmitted into the US each time somebody wants to watch it. It's a digital file, and you're really only sending it once. So when do you tariff the damn thing, how do you manage to actually do it since there's not exactly a literal port of entry for the internet, and what exactly do you value it at? The system isn't built to track and tariff info being uploaded to random servers, and making it work would require all sorts of new law.<p>Plus, what's the legal definition of "production" he wants to use? What constitutes <i>foreign</i> production? Can some of the <i>producing</i> just be done remotely? What if raw footage is uploaded instead and then it's edited here? Or a nearly finished copy that just needs something minor done to be considered ready? Hollywood accountants are in a league of their own. Put them in a room with lawyers and accountants whose focus is the creative eccentricities of tariff engineering--hello, chicken tax people[0]--and I shudder to imagine what they'd get up to.<p>We're only a few months in at this point, and I feel like I'm losing my mind.<p>0. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Emergency_Economic_Powers_Act#Curtailment_of_emergency_executive_powers" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Emergency_Econom...</a><p>1. <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/2333/text" rel="nofollow">https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/2333...</a><p>2. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax</a>