BRUSSELS, July 15 (Reuters) - The 30% tariff on European goods threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump would, if implemented, be a game-changer for Europe, wiping out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce and forcing a rethink of its export-led economic model.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil warns the EU to act firmly if tariff negotiations with the US fail. Amid escalating trade tensions, President Trump's proposed tariffs on EU imports intensify. EU favors negotiation but is ready for countermeasures.

For more than 200 years, the São José Paquete d’Africa lay hidden off Cape Town’s shore. Its excavation in 2014 uncovered a tragic story of enslavement and commerce from the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The President also threatened reciprocal tariffs on any countermeasures from the EU - the consequences could not be greater

The European Union has prepared a €21 billion ($24.5 billion) list of tariffs on U.S. goods in case trade talks fail, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with Il Messaggero newspaper,

The European Union and South Korea said on Monday they were working on trade deals with U.S. President Donald Trump that would soften the blow from looming tariffs as Washington threatens to impose hefty duties from August 1.

America’s biggest trading partner and the world’s largest trading bloc — had been scheduled to impose ″countermeasures″ starting Monday at midnight Brussels time.