President Donald Trump said Tuesday the European Union has been taking advantage of the US for years, vowing to impose tariffs on $11 billion of products from the 28-nation bloc.
"The World Trade Organization finds that the European Union subsidies to Airbus has adversely impacted the United States, which will now put Tariffs on $11 Billion of EU products!" Trump tweeted.
"The EU has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years. It will soon stop!"
The president gave no timetable for the move, which comes amid an escalating trade row after the US initially threatened the tariffs on Monday in response to subsidies received by aircraft maker Airbus.
The EU and the US have been maintaining a fragile trade truce since Trump angered Europe last year by slapping duties on steel and aluminum imports and threatening new ones on cars.
For more than 14 years, Washington and Brussels have accused each other of unfairly subsidizing Boeing and Airbus, respectively, in a tit-for-tat dispute that long predates Trump.
The Boeing-Airbus spat is the longest and most complicated dispute dealt with by the WTO, which aims to create a level playing field in global trade.
The EU fired back on Tuesday, saying that the amounts claimed by the US were "greatly exaggerated."
