Source:  POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE,  4/16/19

Brussels on Monday agreed to launch trade talks with the U.S. — but warned it would back out if Trump refuses to lift industrial tariffs or slaps new duties on European cars and auto parts.

The negotiating mandates, formally approved Monday, emphasize that steel and aluminum tariffs must be dropped "prior to the conclusion of negotiations," which EU ministers hope will happen before European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker leaves office at the end of October.

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley shot back his own warning, saying that if the trade talks exclude agriculture, it's unlikely a final agreement would be ratified by Congress. "Agriculture is a significant piece of the global economy and it simply doesn't make sense to leave it out," he said in a statement.