WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States will impose tariffs on 11 billion U.S. dollars' worth of products from the European Union (EU), ratcheting up a protracted bilateral dispute over aircraft subsidies.

"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 said on Twitter. "The EU has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years. It will soon stop!"

Trump's tweet came one day after the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a statement saying it has begun a process under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 "to identify products of the EU to which additional duties may be applied until the EU removes those subsidies."

The USTR said it is releasing for public comment a preliminary list of EU products to be covered by additional duties. "In line with U.S. law, the preliminary list contains a number of products in the civil aviation sector, including Airbus aircraft," it added in the statement.

According to the list, the products that will potentially be subject to the additional tariffs also include commodities such as a variety of seafood, dairy products, processed fruits, wine, garments, among others.

The case of EU subsidies to Airbus, according to remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer carried by the USTR statement, "has been in litigation for 14 years, and the time has come for action."

Lighthizer said the Trump administration "is preparing to respond immediately when the WTO issues its finding on the value of U.S. countermeasures." The result of the WTO arbitration is expected to come out in this summer.

An EU official was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that the 11-billion-dollar figure "is based on US internal estimates that have not been awarded by the WTO" and is "greatly exaggerated."

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