Salma Hayek, Mexican President Back New 30 Percent Film Tax Incentive

Oscar-nominated Mexican star Salma Hayek Pinault (Frida, Tale of Tales) joined Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo this week to announce a new tax incentive aimed at boosting the local film industry and drawing big production south of the border.

The incentives include a new 30 percent tax incentive for projects shot in Mexico, making the country more attractive for runaway productions, just as the Trump government is intensifying pressure on U.S. companies to shoot more films at home.

Hayek attended a presidential briefing where Mexican authorities outlined the incentive, which will apply for live action or animated feature films and TV series episodes that spend a minimum of 40 million pesos ($2.3 million) in country; documentary feature films and series with a minimum expenditure of 20 million pesos ($1.2 million); and animation, visual effects, or post-production processes with a minimum expenditure of 5 million pesos ($290,000).

The incentive will be for Mexican individuals and legal entities, for foreign individuals and entities with a permanent establishment in the country, and foreign individuals and entities who carry out production through a Mexican resident individual or legal entity.

President Pardo said the goal of the program was to “meet the level of our people and to match the extraordinary creativity that exists in our country,” noting that Mexican s were “a resilient people who have always fought for their independence, for their sovereignty, and for the defense of their cultural rights.”

Hayek Pinault noted that the incentive supporting Mexican cinema would foster national pride through authentic and meaningful storytelling.

“With this support, we have no comparison. There is no country in the world with such ecological diversity and beauty—here we have it all. No other country has what we have,” she said..

The move and Mexico’s broader push to grow production infrastructure comes as the Trump government continues to threaten to levy tariffs of up to 100 percent on films produced outside the United States. Trump has repeatedly proposed such tariffs, arguing that foreign subsidies and tax incentives are hurting Hollywood. He has yet to clarify how such system could work, given that films are non-material goods, but the threats have had unsettling effects on both Hollywood and global production hubs. Many have suggested the U.S. instead implement its own federal tax incentives to bring production back home.