To: Eric Garcetti, The California State House, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Tariff Outsourced Visual Effects for Film
Visual effects for film have been all but eliminated from Los Angeles because of outsourcing and foreign subsidies. There needs to be a tariff applied to these services to help keep the work in Los Angeles and help pay for displaced workers caused by foreign subsidies and outsourcing.
Why is this important?
Outsourced Visual Effects are displacing millions of American workers. Companies using foreign artists need to pay for the costs of displacing these U.S. workers, and these fees will also reduce the incentive for these companies to send these services out in the first place.
Tariffs are applied to products because Union pressure forced the Government to apply tariffs for outsourced goods. The professions that are being displaced are not represented by unions, the government needs to get directly involved. Tariffs need to be applied to outsourced Visual Effects to provide income from the studios to help pay for the Government assistance that is being spent AS A DIRECT RESULT of their outsourcing.
In accordance with some legal research already done in this area, the implementation of this tariff could use the "Countervailing Duty" (CVD) to accomplish this goal. This law is already in place, and would be the easiest way to implement this goal. Please review the links below for more information.
http://tinyurl.com/VFXSubsidiesStudy
http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/legal-recommendations-on-vfx-subsidies/