BRUSSELS — The European Commission has warned national capitals that it will reject some pleas to shield sensitive goods from planned retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, wary of undermining its negotiating hand in high-stakes trade talks with President Donald Trump, three EU diplomats and officials told POLITICO. 

The EU executive warned in a confidential meeting this week that the bloc’s retaliation lists would only target €25 billion worth of U.S. exports if it acceded to requests from every member country — instead of the €95 billion it initially targeted as a response to Trump’s “reciprocal” and car tariffs. 

Brussels therefore expects capitals to be open to compromise, stressing it won’t be able to accommodate all their requests if the European Union wants to show it is able to strike back hard against Trump’s tariffs. 

Talks between Washington and Brussels are nearing crunch time, with Trump threatening from July 9 to hike tariffs on most EU exports to the United States to 50 percent from 10 percent now.

The Commission, which handles trade policy on behalf of the bloc’s 27 members, consulted member states and businesses on a second list of goods that would be hit with tariffs as soon as mid-July, should the EU and the U.S. fail to agree to end their raging trade war.

EU capitals have been lobbying to remove sensitive goods from the lists, fearing that Trump could target them with reprisals. 

Earlier this year, France, Italy and Ireland pushed to remove bourbon whiskey from a first retaliation package after Trump threatened a 200 percent levy on all wines, champagne and alcoholic products coming from the EU. This first package has not yet been implemented.

Among countries pushing back against retaliation is Ireland, a top EU exporter of pharmaceuticals to the U.S. that also hosts the European headquarters of many Silicon Valley tech giants. Germany is lobbying for a negotiated settlement to spare its big auto industry from duties, with Economy Minister Katharina Reiche in Washington D.C. this week for talks.

The European Commission declined to comment.