A raft of agri-food produce imported into the EU from the US could be in line for "countermeasures" proposed by the European Commission.

It comes after US President Donald Trump placed tariffs on steel and aluminium produced in the EU and imported by the US.

The commission said that these tariffs are "unjustified", disruptive to trade, and harmful to business.

The commission has proposed "countermeasures" in response, which will effectively see tariffs being placed on goods coming from the US into the EU.

Apart from allowing countermeasures that were already in place (though suspended) to take effect again from April 1, the commission is also proposing new countermeasures as well.

The commission has opened a two-week stakeholder consultation in order to decide which US products will be targeted with new countermeasures, with many US agri-food products on the list of goods that mat be targeted.

The commission aims to have the legal act imposing the countermeasures in place by mid-April.

The list of US goods that might be potentially targeted is exhaustive, and includes a very wide range of agricultural products, as well as industrial products and textiles, such as clothing.

While it is understood that not everything on the list will have EU countermeasures applied to it (subject to the stakeholder consultation process), the list includes meat (including types of organ meat) from many animals, including cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry.

The list also includes meat products across different categories, including bone-in and boneless, and fresh, chilled or frozen. It also includes carcasses or half-carcasses of bovines.

The stakeholder consultation will end on March 26, at which point the commission will assess the stakeholder input.

It will then finalise a draft act to implement the countermeasures, and will consult the member states.

Commenting on the situation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "The United States is applying a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminium. We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains.

"The European Union must act to protect consumers and business. The countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate. As the US are applying tariffs worth $28 billion, we are responding with countermeasures worth €26 billion," von der Leyen added.

She said the commission is "ready to engage meaningful dialogue" to explore alternative solutions to the Trump's tariffs.