As the article hinted at, part of that question rests on ownership. Profits "shipped to another country" are ultimately the property of the shareholders. If all of the shareholders are American, then the profits get shipped to Japan and then returned to America in the form of dividends and share buybacks. There are legal issues, of course, regarding taxation and jurisdiction, but it does make you wonder. There are plenty of companies in Panama (et al) which the US Government would like to have enough evidence to prove are American owned...

There are a lot of people who will take pains to tell you that their foreign auto was "built" in America.

There's a big difference between assembled from foreign parts and manufactured in America. Now even the Big 3 have foreign parts in their cars. But the foreign manufacturers bring over their own suppliers and a much higher percentage of their cars are not made in this country.

A high percentage of the sales price of that foreign assembled car you buy is sent to the parent overseas. When you consider that each dollar is multiplied five times thorugh the economy with an automotive purchase we have exported a large chunk of what used to be part of this country's economy.

Buy what you want but please don't kid yourself into believing you're purchasing an American manufactured car when you buy a foreign make.