Marketing...
After owning, building and riding hundreds of different vintage road bicycles, it seems to me that it is the actual bicycle that is the final statement of any builder, be they Italian, French, Canadian or Robotic. I have seen crappy Italian bikes and wonderful ones, both bearing the Made in Italy documentation. Some of the Asian bicycles I have been lucky enough to get to know have been stunning, both in quality of construction and ride.
Fiori, Miele, Marinoni and Winthrop? Are any of these Italian made. Yep! The Miele was made Miele - in Canada. The Marinoni was made by Marinoni - in Canada. The Winthrop was made by who knows - in Italy. And the Fiori is pure Asian. If Ernest Colnogo came to Canada and built a road bicycle, what would it be - Italina or Canadian?
One or more of you realized that this is all marketing. However...
In my experience with lots of different bikes and after carefully comparing quality, it occurs to me that Italian high end bikes are the leaders of the pack. English, Asian and Canadian come in second and France has failed for the most part to impress me at all. That said, my early eighties Vitus 979 was a wonderful bicycle but very fragile.
In my mind it doesn't really matter where the bicycle was made but it is important to me how it was made and from what. Because only a crafted bicycle built from quality materials will offer a quality ride.