Around the world, many countries and regions have been looking at ways of protecting their film and television industries.  Last year, some new legislation was introduced called the Online Streaming Act, which would require US streaming services like Disney+ to pay 3% of their revenue within the province to be paid to the government.   A similar bill has also been in discussion in other countries like the UK.

The new digital services levy is expected to direct $200 million a year into Canadian original programming, and the federal finance department in Ottawa was set to start collecting the tax from platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ from June 30th 2025

There is also a bill being considered in Quebec that aims to increase the discoverability of French-language content on streaming platforms, including Disney+ and Netflix.  As part of the bill, digital services, including Disney+, could be subject to a French-language quota, following the example of the policy many countries within the European Union have implemented for streaming services.

Following Donald Trump’s return as US President, he has been attempting to rewrite the United States’ trade policies with countries around the world, introducing tariffs on numerous products.   

Canada and the United States have been in trade negotiations for a while,e but today, US President Donald Trump has said on his social media platform, that he is cutting off all trade talks due to this levy being added onto US streaming services like Disney+.

We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country. They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

The Canadian prime minister’s office said in a statement regarding the news:

“The Canadian government will continue to engage in these complex negotiations with the United States in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses,”

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this situation, to see if the Canadian government will respond to this threat, either by pulling the bill or doubling down by not backing down.  Or if Donald Trump will backtrack within a few days, in a move that is now known as the TACO. 

Entertainment is one of the US’s biggest exports to countries around the world, and many countries are exploring ways to protect their own movie and TV industries, especially as local productions are becoming increasingly difficult to fund due to the growing popularity of global streaming platforms.

Do you think the streaming tax in Canada will continue?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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