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A new Republican-sponsored bill in the U.S. Congress takes aim at Canada’s attempts to force foreign streaming companies such as Netflix and Disney+ to pay into Canadian funds for domestic content production.<\/p>\n
The proposed legislation could pave the way for the United States to impose new tariffs on Canadian products.<\/p>\n
Called the Protecting American Streaming and Innovation Act, the bill was introduced on Thursday in the House of Representatives by Pennsylvania Republican Lloyd Smucker. It’s designed “to counter Canada’s digital trade barriers targeting American streaming companies and content producers,” he said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Canada\u2019s unfair policies stack the deck against U.S. companies, creators, and workers,” Smucker said. CBC News has requested an interview with the congressman.<\/p>\n The bill is aimed at Canada’s Online Streaming Act, which has been a trade irritant for the U.S. since it became law in 2023<\/a>. <\/p>\n Introduced by the former Trudeau government, the Online Streaming Act enabled the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to impose a rule<\/a> ordering all streaming companies with at least $25 million in annual Canadian revenue to put five per cent of that into national funds that support the creation of Canadian content, including movies, television and local news.<\/p>\n While the CRTC has said the five per cent levy would generate some $200 million annually for Canadian programming, the payments have been on hold while the rule is being challenged in court.<\/p>\n The idea of forcing streamers to contribute funds toward Canadian content \u2014 sometimes dubbed the “Netflix tax<\/a>” \u2014 has been kicked around in Ottawa for more than a decade<\/a>. <\/p>\n The new bill from the Republicans would compel U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to investigate whether Canada’s tax on streamers constitutes an unfair trade practice and, if so, to take retaliatory action, such as imposing tariffs.<\/p>\n Several U.S. entertainment industry groups have voiced support for the bill, including the Motion Picture Association.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773967510_515_default.jpg\")
Netflix is among the members of the Motion Picture Association who support the Republican bill targeting Canada’s Online Streaming Act. (Jae C. Hong\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n