By Emre Peker 

BRUSSELS -- The European Union made its opening bid in trade talks with the U.S., outlining a narrow goal of slashing tariffs on industrial goods, including motor vehicles, that sets the bloc on a collision course with Washington's broader agenda.

The EU's negotiating mandate comes amid criticism from some U.S. officials that Brussels is dragging its feet on trade talks in the hope of waiting out the Trump administration.

In July, President Trump and the EU's chief executive, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, struck a limited agreement to discuss trade issues and defuse tensions. The new EU proposal goes beyond the July pact by including motor vehicles in a bid to address Mr. Trump's complaint that trans-Atlantic automotive trade favors Europe.

Aside from cars, the EU is proposing a limited pact. As part of a push to remove regulatory hurdles, the bloc also included another proposal on conformity assessments that would help trans-Atlantic exporters cut costs and red-tape on areas including testing, inspection and certification.

"This is a focused trade agenda that can be achieved quickly," European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Friday. "It would help avoid an escalation of our trade tensions."

The commission's move comes a week after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer published Washington's aims. He presented a sweeping framework, telling Congress the U.S. would push for the opening of European markets in agriculture and public procurement.

Ms. Malmstrom said last week after meeting Mr. Lighthizer and U.S. lawmakers in Washington that Messrs. Trump and Juncker had specifically left out controversial areas such as agriculture and public procurement that contributed to the demise of previous trade negotiations during the Obama administration.

On Friday, she again rejected talks on agriculture.

Efforts to unlock agricultural markets previously got bogged down over safety and food-quality standards, among other differences. The EU has resisted opening up to genetically modified produce from the U.S., while the sides also differed on prized European geographical indicators that protect brands such as champagne, Scotch whisky and Parma ham. Meanwhile, Brussels and Washington had also failed to breach gaps in accessing each other's government procurement markets--an area where the EU is typically very strong.

Even as agriculture is specifically ruled out of this negotiating mandate, EU officials point out that there have been exceptions, suggesting that further agricultural items might still be agreed on the side. Under the July agreement, the EU agreed to boost U.S. soybean imports and the bloc is separately negotiating to improve non-hormone beef quotas for American exporters to settle a long-running dispute.

The EU's 28 member states still need to approve the commission's proposal. The bloc's executive didn't provide a timeline for approval or starting negotiations with the U.S.

But time is narrowing for the EU and U.S. to find common ground.

The Commerce Department is expected in February to present its findings to Mr. Trump on whether imported vehicles and auto-parts pose a national security threat. The president has promised to shield the EU from any vehicle tariffs as long as trade negotiations are ongoing.

But Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who heads the Senate Finance Committee and met with Ms. Malmstrom last week, told reporters Wednesday that the White House may use car tariffs to force the EU's hands in negotiations.

That would impact more than $40 billion in annual EU auto exports to the U.S. Brussels is near to completing its potential retaliation, should the White House slap European auto makers with duties, Ms. Malmstrom said.

"It would have a very damaging effect on our negotiations," she said. "That point is shared by many in the U.S."

--Valentina Pop contributed to this article.

Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2019 10:11 ET (15:11 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.