EU targets U.S. agriculture exports in proposed tariffs

April 17 (UPI) -- The European Union on Wednesday unveiled a list of U.S. goods being considered for $12 billion in tariffs -- retaliation for the United States failing to remove subsidies on Boeing aircraft. 

The move comes a week after the United States threatened to increase tariffs on $11 billion in European products in retaliation for the EU giving subsidies to French aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the subsidies have adverse effects on the United States. 

The tit-for-tat threat appears to target President Donald Trump's voting base, with a number of proposed tariffs on agricultural products, including ketchup, nuts, tobacco-seed oil and other food items. 

"European companies must be able to compete on fair and equal terms," EU Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malmstrom said. 

In 2011, the World Trade Organization found that Boeing received billions of dollars in illegal subsidies from the United States. Earlier this month, the WTO said the United States failed to remove some of those subsidies. 

"The recent WTO ruling on U.S. subsidies for Boeing is important in this respect," Malmstrom said. "We must continue to defend a level-playing field for our industry."

Also included in the EU's proposed list of U.S. products to be tariffed are video-game consoles, bicycle pedals, vodka, chocolate, frozen lobster and orange juice. 

Earlier this month, the WTO lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year and next, citing escalating trade conflicts and tariff penalties. 

In an update to its forecast, the global trade body said worldwide growth will slow to 2.6 percent this year -- down from the 3.7 percent the WTO projected six months ago. The 2.6 percent figure is the slowest growth forecast since 2016. A slightly more optimistic forecast for 2020, 3 percent, would hinge, the report said, on parties resolving trade conflicts, particularly between China and the United States.