US President Donald Trump has appeared cautiously optimistic about the chances of reaching a trade agreement with the European Union before the August 1 deadline he has set.

"I would say we have a 50-50 chance - maybe less - of reaching a deal with the EU," Trump told reporters at the White House, shortly before departing for a private visit to Scotland and meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The US and the EU have been in intensive negotiations in recent weeks as the deadline approaches for Trump to impose 30% tariffs on all imports from the 27-member bloc, which amounted to $605 billion last year.

Targeting exports worth 370 billion dollars

Trump stressed on Friday that any deal with European countries would have to include a reduction in their own tariffs, which are currently at 30%. Essentially, that depends on how willing the Union is to reduce barriers to American exports, he added.

Last year, the United States exported about $370 billion worth of goods to the EU. A large portion of these, along with some services exports, could be targeted by EU retaliation if a deal is not reached.

More optimistic about Japan

However, Trump said he was more optimistic about a deal with the EU than he was about a deal with Japan, just days before Washington and Tokyo reached an agreement last week.

"I would say we had a 25% chance with Japan. And they insisted, and finally we made the deal," he said.