Right, doing that shows US industrial output to be at its highest level ever.

Oh, you're one of the people who believes the "Made in America" stickers. That explains a lot.

Made or assembled?

I mean, both? We actually track this stuff, you know? Or at least we did until DOGE fired everybody who does that

Then what is the breakdown between products manufactured here and those merely assembled?

Assembly is one example of manufacture, so that distinction isn't really the one you think it is. Output is tracked by value added, so the mythical "car comes missing a single bolt which gets added in Flint" doesn't really show up in the output numbers, if that's your worry.

Do you think that's a reasonable way to measure abd report manufacturing output?

Is laying our heads at the GDP idol's feet a reasonable measure of what these activities contribute to national welfare?

GDP is a pretty good measure of national incomes and, yes, I think income is a good number to look at if you're judging welfare.