WASHINGTON

The EU and Washington have a "50-50 chance" of reaching a trade deal between them, US President Donald Trump said Friday before departing for a visit to Scotland.

"I would say that we have a 50-50 chance, maybe less than that, but a 50-50 chance of making a deal with the EU, and it'll be a deal where they have to buy down their tariffs, because they're right now at 30% and they'll have to buy them down maybe, or they could leave them the way they are," Trump said on the White House lawn before boarding Marine One.

He was referring to the 30% reciprocal levy that the US currently plans to impose on the 27-nation bloc beginning on Aug. 1 -- Trump's self-imposed deadline for nations to strike trade deals with his administration or face markedly heightened import duties.

Trump maintained that the EU wants "to make a deal very badly," saying his officials are "working very diligently" with their European counterparts as the deadline draws near.

He further maintained that his officials have been able to craft what he called the "confines of a deal with China," but suggested that an agreement with major trading partner Canada may prove elusive.

"Aug. 1 is gonna come, and we will have most of our deals finished, if not all. We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where they'll just pay tariffs, not really a negotiation," he said.

Trump is slated to meet with UK Premier Keir Starmer during his trip to Scotland, and said that the leaders would work on "fine tuning" the bilateral trade framework they announced in June.

"We want to talk about certain aspects which are going to be good for both countries, more fine tuning, and also we're going to do a little celebrating together," Trump said.

*Michael Hernandez in Washington, DC contributed to this report