"Germany surpassed the United States to become the world’s leading exporter in 1992, around the time that Germany joined the European Union as a founding member."
As I said Germany was already the world's second largest exporter in 1960. Behind the US, which has 4 times the population.
Germany then became the largest exporter in 86, 87, 88, 90, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.
In 2016 Germany is the third largest exporter after China and the US. The account surplus (goods, services and investments) was the largest, next is China.
Thus the claim that Germany is a leading exporter because of Euro currency manipulation fails to explain why Germany was one of the leading exporters in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s and 2010s. In all those years it was in the top three.
http://savingusmanufacturing.com/blog/general/how-did-german...
"Germany surpassed the United States to become the world’s leading exporter in 1992, around the time that Germany joined the European Union as a founding member."