The US has slapped 25% tariffs on European Union goods including single-malt Scotch whisky, French wine and Italian cheese.

The list exempts some products, such as Italian wine, but also includes sweaters made in the the UK.

Tariffs will be put on UK-made pullovers, cashmere items and wool clothing, as well as olives from France, Germany and Spain.

German coffee and EU-produced pork sausage and other pork products, other than ham, will also be hit..

The new 25% tariffs will take effect as early as 18 October.


Speciality food importers had urged the Trump administration not to move forward with the tariffs, saying in August "there are few to no domestic products that can replace these imported speciality foods".

The Speciality Food Association said there were 14,000 US speciality food retailers that would be afftected by these tariffs as well as over 20,000 other food retailers.

The US has been told it can impose tariffs on £6.1bn of EU goods following a 15-year trade dispute over illegal state subsidies.

The ruling, by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), threatens to open a new transatlantic trade war front.

At a White House news conference to mark the visit of his Finnish counterpart, Donald Trump said the ruling represented a "big win" for America as countries had been "ripping off the United States for many years".

The ruling also allows the US to slap 10% tariffs on EU aircraft.

Image: Airbus employs 14,000 staff in the UK

The WTO found, in a dispute dating back to 2004, that both France-based Airbus and its fierce US rival Boeing received billions of illegal state aid.

Its decision to allow the US to impose tariffs was announced ahead of a ruling on the EU's request for to impose tariffs on the US - expected early next year.

The European Commission said any targeted tariffs following the judgement would be "short-sighted and counterproductive".

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said: "We will be ready to respond firmly with our European partners.

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Image: Airbus has threatened to leave the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit

"A friendly resolution to the Boeing/Airbus dispute is the best solution, and all the more so given that Europe could impose sanctions on the United States next year."

He warned that a trade war risked causing damage on both sides of the Atlantic at a time when the US-China trade war is already damaging demand in the global economy.

Stock market sell-offs, linked to worries about the health of the US economy, intensified after the WTO ruling with the FTSE 100 trading more than 3% down in late deals.

There were similar falls across other major European indices while US stocks built on heavy falls of the previous day.

Image: The Boeing 737 MAX fleet has been grounded after two planes crashed within five months

In the UK, where Airbus makes wings for its planes, the government said it was seeking confirmation from the WTO that the country had complied with rulings regarding support to Airbus and should therefore not be subjected to any tariffs.

Airbus has warned against a "lose-lose" trade war, arguing it employs 4,000 staff at its US operations with tens of thousands more in the supply chain dependent on its work.

Boeing remains in the grip of its biggest crisis following the grounding of its 737 MAX fleet in response to two fatal crashes.

EU manufacturers are already facing US tariffs on steel and aluminium and a threat from President Donald Trump to penalise EU cars and car parts in a tit-for-tat tariff exercise.