>If you look at Germany, its manufacturing sector is in decline, and this is the country's strength.

German manufacturing is in decline because it relied on dirt-cheap Russian energy. It's not cost competitive otherwise.

https://www.energyconnects.com/news/gas-lng/2025/february/ge... Europe has spent three painful years weaning itself off gas from the east with the biggest impact felt in Germany, the region’s biggest economy. German industry was built on cheap Russian gas and rising energy prices have already trammeled growth and forced some manufacturers to move production abroad.