“And they had the knowledge to quickly recover from WWII and become an exporting powerhouse, selling some of the most high quality and highly sought products produced anywhere in the world.
And they [Germany] remain a major exporter and a one of the sounder nations financially.”
True, but the post-war Germany “miracle,” especially in the critical first ten years, was accomplished by embracing the free market principles of Ludwig Erhard, not the protectionist proposals of Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump.
Post war Germany was made possible by the Marshall Plan and American tax dollars rebuilding the nation from scratch. It was our first real effort at “nation building”. Same with Japan.
Oh, is that a fact?
The standard VAT rate for importing items into Germany is 19%, with certain products, for example books, newspapers and magazines, attracting VAT at the reduced rate of 7%. VAT is calculated on the value of the goods, plus the international shipping costs and insurance, plus any import duty due.