America Labor Secretary, Get Away from Me

The perils of attempting to "buy American":

To show her support for American workers, President Obama's labor secretary, Hilda Solis, has junked the standard black limo and purchased a new Chevrolet Equinox to ride around Washington in. The problem: the crossover SUV is built and assembled in Canada from parts also made in Canada.

Oops.

In truth, given the global nature of the automobile industry, it's awfully difficult to call a lot of cars American-made. In the past few years, I have owned four different vehicles:

• A Chevrolet Lumina, manufactured in Canada
• A Dodge Intrepid, also manufactured in Canada
• A Hyundai Santa Fe, manufactured in Montgomery, Alabama
• A Honda Accord, manufactured in Marysville, Ohio

So which of these cars is American-made? You can argue that any of them are, or that none of them are. And you'd be right, or wrong, in either instance. Hope that clears matters up.

Solis had a rationale for her declaration:

Solis added that she was inspired to buy the Chevy because of the pride she saw in American auto workers during trips to U.S. car and truck plants. She said that she was wowed by "the pride that they take making our automobiles here in America."

I'd stipulate that her pride may be real, but attention to detail matters.