US president says chances of reaching a trade deal with the EU are ’50-50′ ahead of his August 1 tariff deadline.United States President Donald Trump has arrived in Scotland, where he is set to meet with European and British leaders for trade negotiations and visit his golf courses.
Trump landed in the United Kingdom late on Friday, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Before departing from the White House, the US president told reporters that he would discuss the trade deal between Washington and London with Starmer and “maybe even improve it”.
Von der Leyen said earlier on Friday that she had a “good” call with Trump.
“We have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong,” she said in a social media post.
Shortly after coming into office, Trump imposed tariffs on imports from across the world, and he invited countries to negotiate bilateral deals with the US to avoid or lessen any further trade barriers.
The UK agreed to a trade agreement with the US in June that expanded access to American goods in the British market.
The deal also set the tariffs on the first 100,000 UK vehicles exported to the US annually at 10 percent.
But the US trade war with the European Union has, by contrast, intensified. Earlier this month, Trump announced 30 percent tariffs on EU imports starting on August 1.
European leaders have expressed willingness to negotiate a deal …