THE United States on Monday proposed US$4 billion in tariffs on a range of European Union products — including parmesan cheese and Scotch and Irish whiskey — over subsidies for commercial aircraft.

The list also includes sausages, hams, pasta, olives and many other cheeses including reggiano, provolone, edam and gouda.

“Today, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is issuing for public comment a supplemental list of products that could potentially be subject to additional duties,” it said in a statement.

The potential tariffs are due to “EU subsidies on large civil aircraft,” the statement said.

“This supplemental list adds 89 tariff subheadings with an approximate trade value of US$4 billion to the initial list published on April 12, which included tariff subheadings with an approximate trade value of US$21 billion,” it added.

For more than 14 years, Washington and Brussels have accused each other of unfairly subsidizing aviation giants Boeing and Airbus, respectively, in a tit-for-tat dispute that long predates U.S. President Donald Trump’s time in office.

The Boeing-Airbus spat is the longest and most complicated dispute dealt with by the World Trade Organization.  (SD-Agencies)