The 30% tariffs on European products threatened by US President Donald Trump, if finally implemented, will be a game changer for Europe, destroying entire sectors of transatlantic trade and forcing a rethink of its export economic model.

European ministers meeting in Brussels remained confident they can bring Trump back from the brink before the Aug. 1 deadline and reach a deal that would keep the $1.7 trillion bilateral trade relationship broadly intact.

However, sharp shifts in Trump’s attitude toward the European Union, which he sometimes describes as friendly and sometimes accuses of being created specifically to destroy the United States, keep the 30 percent threat very much alive for now.

“It will be almost impossible to continue trade as we are used to in the transatlantic relationship,” EU trade chief Maros Sefchowitz said of the 30 percent figure.

EU officials had hoped they could limit the damage by agreeing to a basic tariff of about 10 percent – the one currently in place – with additional exemptions for key sectors such as the auto industry.