The European Union on Monday increased the range of US imports hit by retaliatory tariffs in response to a US trade programme that has been declared illegal by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The additional tariffs of 15 percent would be extended to eight new products ranging from different types of blankets and paper to photocopying apparatus and drills, the EU's executive Commission said in a statement.
That would take the total value of duties to $36.9 million in the 12 months from May 1, up from $27.8 million in the previous 12-month period, it said.
The move is in response to an increase in the disbursement to US companies of duties collected from EU products under the so-called Byrd Amendment in 2005.
The US House of Representatives in February approved a budget bill to scrap the Byrd Amendment in October 2007. But some funds could still be paid under the programme for years after that, prompting protests from Brussels.
The EU's changes come into effect on Monday.
"While the Byrd Amendment issue has been a long-running irritant in the US-EU trade relationship, it is important to note that the huge bulk of EU-US trade is trouble-free," the statement said. "The EU has always worked hard to ensure that the Byrd issue does not unnecessarily affect the highly successful wider EU-US trading relationship," it said.
The move comes at a tense time in the trans-Atlantic trade relationship with Brussels and Washington recently blaming one another for a stalemate in talks over the World Trade Organisation's Doha round.
Eleven US trading partners successfully challenged the Byrd Amendment at the WTO.
Since May 1, 2005, the EU has applied the 15 percent duty on paper products, textiles, machinery and sweet-corn originating in the United States.