US President Donald Trump is campaigning for a nationwide tax incentive for film and TV productions. Following a meeting with actor Jon Voight, he called on the US Congress to swiftly introduce legislation to this effect. The aim, he said, is to bring productions – and with them jobs – back to the US in greater numbers.

The initiative is to be implemented on a cross-party basis. Support has already come from the US film industry: the Motion Picture Association and several trade unions have welcomed Trump’s proposal. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff has also spoken out in favour of a nationwide production incentive.

However, there are as yet no specific details of the planned model. Amongst those close to Voight and the Motion Picture Association, one of the options under discussion is a 20 per cent tax credit on certain labour costs. A corresponding draft bill has not yet been tabled.

The background to this is the growing international competition between locations. US productions are increasingly being relocated to countries and regions offering attractive tax incentives. A nationwide US incentive scheme could slow this trend and complement the existing support programmes run by individual states.

For Hollywood, the introduction of such a measure would be a significant step in terms of industrial policy. However, it remains to be seen whether Trump’s proposal will actually result in legislation.