Merkel's plan to buy prosperity for Germany by buying cheap resources from Russia and selling a lot of manufactured products to China failed totally, so to say.

Meanwhile Germany didn't invest enough into infrastructure, nor into high-tech industries. Too much reliance on extant branches such as car production.

They are sick man of Europe again, and mostly as a result of Merkel-era politics. Any US pressure is small fry compared to their self-inflicted wounds.