The EU is to slap an array of US imports with tariffs following a decision by President Donald Trump to put levies on its steel and aluminium in what risks becoming a tit-for-tat trade war.
The action includes levies of 25pc on bourbon whiskey, motorcycles, paper pulp and cranberries. These hail from areas that are hotly contested in the the upcoming US midterms elections, in which the Republican party is seeking to retain its majorities in Congress.
These politically sensitive products are thought to have been deliberately targeted by the European Commission in order to cause maximum discomfort to the US administration.
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström is set to offer more detail on the EU's response the US move in a press conference on Friday.
The levies will affect around €2.8bn (£2.46bn) of US exports to Europe. By contrast, the US has slapped tariffs on €6.4bn (£5.6bn) worth of EU metals.
Prominent republican Paul Ryan is a congressman from Wisconsin, the home of Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson. Mr Trump won Wisconsin by just one percentage point in the 2016 presidential election and it is being heavily targeted by Democrat campaigners in the midterms race.
Mr Ryan has spoken out against the US metals tariffs saying he disagreed with the decision, and that it was not a good way to address the administration's concerns about international trade.
Canada, also now subject to the 25pc steel and 10pc aluminium tariffs, has hit soy sauce on its list of countermeasures. Wisconsin is also major soy sauce manufacturer.
Cranberries have been targeted with a 25pc levy. The EU is the single biggest buyer of US cranberries, importing 12pc of its crop. Wisconsin and Massachusetts are the most significant areas for cranberry farming.
The US paper pulp industry has already suffered considerably in recent years. It has strongholds in Maine - another contested area in the midterms, which are now set to be hit by the EU tariffs at a rate of 25pc and in some product areas 35pc.
Mexico has joined with Canada and the EU in delivering its own set of countermeasures. It is a member of the tripartite Nafta deal with the US and Canada, which is currently being renegotiated.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that a US request for a sunset clause to be added the deal was rejected. This has brought into question the future of the trillion-dollar trade agreement.
China is also primed to press ahead with another set of tariffs which are part of another major trade spat between the US and the world's second largest economy. It has also chosen to target politically sensitive areas for the US.