"The signs are not encouraging," US Trade Representative Rob Portman said at an event with US business groups pushing for a successful conclusion to world trade negotiations.
The stalemate on farm trade issues has raised questions about whether the World Trade Organisation will go ahead with a scheduled meeting in Hong Kong in December. Portman said the United States wants Hong Kong to be a success and "will not be backing off" from having the scheduled meeting.
Top trade officials from the EU, the United States, India, Australia and Brazil will hold a teleconference on Friday to discuss the expected new EU offer, Portman said.
The test will be whether it cuts tariffs enough to provide countries around the world with significantly increased access to EU agricultural markets, Portman said.
The United States "took a risk" two weeks ago in the agriculture negotiations by offering to cut its trade-distorting farm subsidies by 60 percent if other countries agreed to slash their tariffs, Portman said.