The Global Question: Who Needs the U.S.?

Can Germany take the load off the U.S. and the rest of Europe? Growth in the 13 nations that have adopted the euro is expected to be 2.6% in 2006, unusually strong for the growth-challenged Continent, and in the past few months it has outpaced the U.S. for the first time in years. The European recovery is uneven, though, with Italy and France faring less well. Nevertheless, "Europe is going to have a great year," reckons Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

Leibinger-Kammüller, the boss at Trumpf, certainly hopes so. Trumpf's continued strong sales growth is in large part the fruits of a geographical diversification: it established a subsidiary in the U.S. as long ago as 1969 and opened an office in Japan eight years later. It's currently investing in facilities in the Czech Republic, Mexico and South Korea. "Our main competition used to be in the U.S., but it has disappeared there, and now it's Japan," Leibinger-Kammüller says.

Still, Trumpf uses its U.S. operations as a springboard not just to the American market but also to Asia, where it exports part of its U.S. production. "Russia is going well, so are OPEC countries," she says. "But we also believe in the American economy." While the world tries to figure out just how critical the U.S. is, keeping your eggs in a lot of different baskets may be the best strategy.