BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union (EU) plans tariffs of up to 25 per cent on US goods in retaliation for levies on metals, but will spare bourbon to shield European wine and spirits from reprisals, according to a document seen by AFP on Tuesday.

The proposed tariffs — drawn up since President Donald Trump’s duties on steel and aluminium took effect last month — aim to show EU strength while Brussels seeks to negotiate over Washington’s broader tariffs onslaught.

Brussels scrapped bourbon from a preliminary list of targeted goods, after bowing to demands from major wine exporters France and Italy, which were spooked by Trump’s threat to hit European alcoholic beverages with a 200-percent tariff in retaliation.

The US-produced whiskey does not feature on the final list seen by AFP, which was sent to representatives of EU member states ahead of a vote on Wednesday.

The list proposes levies on goods including soybeans, poultry, rice, sweetcorn, fruit and nuts, wood, motorcycles, plastics, textiles, paintings, electrical equipment, make-up and other beauty products.

Brussels has so far refrained from hitting back at the 20-per cent duties on the bloc’s imports ordered as part of Trump’s global tariff onslaught, with EU states rallying behind a push to avert an all-out trade war through negotiations.

But EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said on Tuesday that the European Commission could present its planned countermeasures to the new levies “as early as next week”.