US trade talks with the European Union were continuing and there was optimism an agreement could be reached in short order, a White House official said on Friday.

But European Union negotiators have failed so far to achieve a breakthrough in trade negotiations with the Trump administration and may now seek to extend the status quo to avoid tariff hikes, six EU diplomats briefed on the talks said.

The EU had already dropped hopes of locking in a comprehensive trade agreement ahead of Trump’s July 9 deadline, but following talks in Washington it was not clear if it would even secure a lighter agreement in principle.

The Commission told EU envoys on Friday afternoon that it believed the United States was willing to "pause" the current tariffs in place for partners with which it reached an initial agreement, with possible tariff relief later.

Without a preliminary agreement, broad US tariffs on most imports would rise from their current 10 percent to the rate set out by US President Donald Trump on April 2. In the EU's case that would be 20 percent.

The Commission said that at one point the United States had mooted a 17 percent tariff on EU agri-food imports, the sources said.

Two of the EU diplomats who spoke to Reuters said the Commission appeared to be pushing more for the first option, to extend the status quo, and then seek to negotiate further. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that negotiations were set to continue into the weekend. "Progress was made towards an agreement in principle during the latest round of negotiations which took place this week," a European Commission spokesperson said.

"Having discussed the state of play with our member states, the Commission will now re-engage with the US on substance over the weekend."

The EU currently faces 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium exports to the United States, 25 percent tariffs on cars and car parts and a 10 percent levy on most other products. (Reuters)