- We are having constructive talks with the US, and I am happy about that. But the way the Americans have set this up, we must be prepared for a tariff rate that may be high, the Prime Minister told NTB on Wednesday – two days before the deadline the Americans have set expires.

President Donald Trump's message to Norway has so far been that Norwegian goods will be subject to a 15 percent tariff. Norway hopes to negotiate this down to 10 percent, but that is up to Trump himself to decide.

According to TV 2, a possible customs agreement between the US and Norway is more or less complete. What is missing is approval from Trump.

- I repeat that this is an instrument we are critical of. We do not believe that world trade or bilateral trade will improve with tariffs, the Prime Minister emphasizes.

Støre does not want to compare the Norwegian-American process with the one the EU has had with the US. It ended in an agreement with a general tariff rate of 15 percent on EU goods to the US – and no tariffs on goods going the other way.

Negotiations between the two major trading blocs in the world are naturally different from those taking place between the United States and Norway, which has relatively modest exports across the pond, according to Støre.

- We must take the Norwegian issues and the dialogue we have had as a starting point to also look at cooperation opportunities with the United States, he says.

Deadline on Friday

The deadline set by the US to reach an agreement expires on Friday, August 1. Norway has its best people on the matter, according to the Prime Minister. He is confident that they will succeed.

"There is a deadline of Friday, but the world continues after that day. So I don't intend to let us be pressured into any result just because it's Friday," he says.

Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Ap) tells NRK that it is not certain that the tariff negotiations with the US will be successful.

"We must be prepared that it is not possible to reach an agreement," Stoltenberg told the channel.

The Minister of Finance also says that we must prepare for higher tariffs, and that it is not certain that Norway will receive better rates than 15 percent, as the EU has received.

- We have seen that customs duties have increased significantly for many countries around us. We must be prepared for increased customs duties for Norway as well.