European Union countries have approved plans for trade talks with the United States.

President Donald Trump and the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, agreed last year that they wanted to reduce trade barriers.

The decision by EU ministers gives the Commission authorisation to conduct formal talks.

But there is already a disagreement over whether farm goods should be covered by the talks.

If the talks do get going, it would not be the first attempt by the two sides to make a bilateral trade agreement.

Under President Barack Obama, the US and the EU had a programme of negotiations known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.