Germany thrived in the first China Shock. But the next one could prove catastrophic.

zpagistock / Getty Images

BERLIN — On a cloudy day in mid-September, I biked across Germany's capital to meet up with Oliver Richtberg, a representative of the VDMA, at his organization's annual political conference. The VDMA is an industry association (whose name is a German acronym that translates to Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering). It represents thousands of German companies that manufacture industrial machines and equipment. The companies are a big part of what Germans call the "Mittelstand," which are small and medium-sized manufacturers that are widely considered to be "the heart of the German economy."

The VDMA has real political clout, and their annual conference, "the German Mechanical Engineering Summit," has become a must-go-to event for German