> Germany tried some "protectionist" policies I seem to recall reading about — to protect some segment of manufacturing (automobile?).
As a German, I'm not aware of any large-scale, coordinated efforts specifically with that goal. There's all kinds of subsidies or policies with other ostensible goals (such as promoting electric cars) that are effectively subsidies. Usually enacted as a reaction to some current event, such as COVID, or a large company about to go bankrupt. Nothing that hasn't been done pretty much the same way in other countries.
As a German, I'm not aware of any large-scale, coordinated efforts specifically with that goal. There's all kinds of subsidies or policies with other ostensible goals (such as promoting electric cars) that are effectively subsidies. Usually enacted as a reaction to some current event, such as COVID, or a large company about to go bankrupt. Nothing that hasn't been done pretty much the same way in other countries.