My econ teacher once said that it was better to buy a foreign car made in the U.S. than....?

Question

...it was to buy an American car, made in another country. (economically speaking)

1) Do you agree with this statement?

2) If so, would it be better to buy a car manufactured, for an American company, by a foreign manufacturer, in the United States? (i.e. The Pontiac Vibe is manufactured by Toyota in the U.S. for GM)

3) If not, should car stickers label what percentage of parts and labor are from the U.S. alone, instead of U.S. and Canada?

Answer 1

well now a days no car maker can say -mdae in USA but will say assembled in USA as all car maker are buying few or more parts from foreign countries .

so there is nothing like

Made in USA thats unfortunate !

Answer 2

It depends on who is it going to be good for, the buyer or the buyer's country's economy? (That is micro vs. macroeconomic levels) If you're buying a Toyota made in the US, then you get a car at competitive prices and you benefit the American workers in those assembly plants by giving them jobs. But Toyota gets to take its profits home. But if you import an American brand car, then you're going to be paying for the import tax (if there is for American brands) and the cost of shipping, that is you'd be buying the car at  less competitive prices. You'd also causes some money to leak out from your country's economy (the wages of local workers in the assembly country) but the profits would be a surplus for the US economy since the money goes back to the American company.