French wine, Irish whiskey and cheese will be more expensive thanks to the latest US tariffs

WASHINGTON - If you love Irish whiskey or French wine, you may end up paying quite a bit more for the imported goods because the Trump administration slapped steep tariffs on $7.5 billion in European goods.

The U.S. released a list of items affected by the tariffs, which include wool and cashmere clothes, coffee and instant coffee, waffles and wafers, olives and olive oils, butters, yogurts and certain shellfish.

The administration also threatened to target pasta and leather handbags. A majority of the targeted goods come from Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Europeans made clear they would retaliate in some form. Some fear tariffs could ultimately lead to U.S. import duties on European cars, a big economic blow that President Donald Trump has been threatening to deliver for months.

The exchange echoes how the U.S. and China ratcheted up a tariff war in recent months that bruised businesses around the globe and stunted economic growth.

Trump’s latest tariff fight with Europe goes into effect on Oct. 18 and amounts to a 10 percent tax on EU aircraft and a 25 percent rate on everything else.

The U.S. got the legal go-ahead Wednesday from the World Trade Organization in a case involving illegal EU subsidies for the plane maker Airbus, which predates the Trump administration.

But the EU expects a similar case involving U.S. subsidies for Boeing to go in its favor. A ruling is expected in a few months. It could cause the two sides to hold off new tariffs, which come on top of existing ones that the U.S. and EU exchanged last year.

The U.S. and European economies are more closely integrated than the U.S. and China, with companies heavily invested across borders, so the potential damage for an escalation could dwarf the dispute with China.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.