U.S. Lowers Volume in GATT Film Dispute : Trade: Administration says it is seeking a ‘quieter dialogue’ in its efforts to add Hollywood to the international accord.

In a significant tactical shift, the Clinton Administration has decided to take a lower-key approach to try to resolve a transatlantic dispute that left the multibillion-dollar movie industry out of the recent world trade agreement.

Joan Spero, undersecretary of state for economic and agricultural affairs, told reporters that the Administration is searching for what she termed a “somewhat quieter dialogue” on the dispute.

“This is a critical trade issue for us, (but) at the same time, we’d like to find a way to have a somewhat quieter dialogue with the Europeans,” she said. “It doesn’t mean the problem has gone away; it doesn’t mean that we don’t care . . . but we’d like to see what we can accomplish in a slightly lower tone of voice--on both sides.”

Spero’s remarks followed meetings with European officials here and in Paris on a broad spectrum of trade issues.

Strenuous opposition from the 12-nation European Union--opposition led primarily by France--prevented the entire audiovisual sector from being included in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade reached Dec. 15, which is expected to remove an array of export barriers when it takes effect in 1995.

In her remarks, Spero indicated that European officials have also been receptive to the idea of searching for new avenues for talks, including industry-to-industry contacts, instead of only government-level discussions. She said there has been “some resonance both here and in France” for the idea.

In a telephone interview, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America Inc., said he fully supports the new Administration approach, saying, “I am willing to talk to anybody anytime on the subject.”

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An Administration official stressed that no details were discussed in the most recent meetings. The official described the contacts as “a first talk” since the Dec. 15 accord. “I think there is receptivity to a dialogue, but (there were) absolutely no specifics,” the official said.

Fearful that free trade in films and other media could unleash a tidal wave of U.S. imports that would erode its culture and severely weaken its own film industry, France has insisted that the EU be allowed to continue its policy, which sets a quota of 49% for the maximum amount of non-European productions aired on television.

Europeans also want to retain film subsidies that in 1992 totaled about $700 million and restrict non-European access to emerging technologies that are likely to be areas of major growth in the future.

To save the entire trade round from collapse in the final hours before the deadline to reach an accord, the United States and EU agreed to disagree on the issue. But the Administration has continued to pursue some form of agreement to allow the audiovisual sector to be included in the final accord.

The effort is important because the film industry is one of the United States’ major exporters. According to MPAA figures, films, television series and home videos produced in the United States generated $8 billion in revenue from international markets in 1992.

While Americans tend to view the European attempts to limit U.S. film imports as a form of censorship, the French see Hollywood’s motion picture muscle as a potential threat to their identity and culture.

Those viewpoints have added a powerful emotional dimension to the dispute.

Tempers flared again earlier this week when Valenti, in an open letter, criticized French film executive Daniel Toscan du Plantier for stating that the Los Angeles earthquake was proof that God was on France’s side in the film trade dispute. Du Plantier, president of Unifrance Films, later apologized for the remark, which he said had been a “bad private joke told among friends.”