mmarshall

Depends on what profits you are talking about. Some of the money the company makes from the American plants has to be re-spent right at the plant keeping the plant itself in operation (supplies, machine parts, utilities, plant upkeep, land-use/building taxes, business taxes, etc..... That money usually goes into the local or national Amercican economy, not the Japanese. And, of course, the workers (UAW or otherwise) get their paychecks in their own pockets....not the Japanese economy either. The only money that actually goes back to Japan (or whatever country the manufacturer is from) is that which is left over when all of the other bills are paid.

mmarshall

See my reply just above.

Toys4RJill

Agreed, the article is meaningless.

My0gr81

For one, most of the costs may be reported based on the local subsidiary's balance sheets, and the revenues from wholesale or internal transfer sale, but, most American multinational book their corporate profits off shore away from American taxes.

http://www.ibtimes.com/tax-dodge-app...e-cash-1835968

I say send them to Canada, favourable exchange rate, similar culture and most of all, we won't cross the border to rape and pillage you guys.

tex2670

Not to turn this into a political debate, but there's a distinct difference between someone who isn't afraid to speak his or her mind, and a total attention hog.

Donald does this running for President bit just for attention--he'd never give up control of his companies to be an elected official.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

While this may be important to some people, as long as I like the car inside and out, who cares where it comes from, variety is the spice of life

mmarshall

I'm with you on this one, but a number of people DO care.

bagwell

true it's a global market but......to some Americans buying the most American Made product(S) is important....just because it's not important to you doesn't make it irrelevant.

evident

yep. always get this response. even if this is a case, i'd rather have the profits go to japan, which make a good quality product, are an important trade partner and biggest ally of the US in the asia pacific region, than to china or maybe even mexico

chromedome

Cars are made wherever it's cheap and convenient. Lots of US, Japanese and German companies use local parts and local assembly for the China market. The same also happens for the Asean market in Thailand and the Philippines, in Brazil for South America, etc. Business is globalized, that's something unions have to deal with.

The ironic flip side about most US companies is that they don't have any American manufacturing facilities and also park their profits offshore. Apple, I'm looking at you...

Vladi

Well there is just one side missing from that global market for everyone argument and that is a consumer's global fair pricing. If manufacturers are allowed to shop for the cheapest labor, manufacturing and get tax breaks and even cash incentives there should be a world governing body that makes sure the product is priced fairly and equally on every market its sold. Right now we have a situation where the same globally made product is priced differently before tax in different markets.

My0gr81

You are allowed to shop for the best price in any country and either import it or get it shipped to you. Why have a "governing body" regulate prices across borders?

The same product being sold for different prices in each country is due to multiple factors, and in some cases, out of the manufacturer's control. The majority of retail products leave the custody of the manufacturer once they leave the factory or the warehouse. Once they enter the distribution chain, a whole bunch of other players (distributors, MANA's, importers, wholesalers, retailers, discounters, etc) take over and set the buy and sell prices with their own margins.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

fair enough, but to those americans looking for the 'most american made product(s)' i say they're just living in the past. the article shows a CAMRY is the 'most american made product' but somehow those americans you reference still wouldn't be satisfied by that because it's not 'merican made by the UAW, or some other nostalgic nonsense.

LexBob2

Like most consumer products, people buy car for a WIDE variety of reasons. I guess if someone wants/needs this info to make their purchase, it's out there. Personally I don't pay too much attention to where a car is made or components are sourced.

tex2670

I have to agree. It's noble to support American jobs, but if I'm spending that kind of money, I'm not going to sacrifice quality for that. And I do think that a lot of people blindly beat the "buy American" drum, without fully understanding that their car may not be made in the USA.