Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama says U.S. corporations that adopt foreign addresses to avoid taxes are unpatriotic. His own administration helped one $20 billion American company do just that.

As part of the bailout of the auto industry in 2009, Obama's Treasury Department authorized spending $1.7 billion of government funds to get a bankrupt Michigan parts-maker back on its feet — as a British company. While executives continue to run Delphi Automotive from a Detroit suburb, the paper headquarters in England potentially reduces the company's tax bill by as much as $110 million a year.

The Obama administration's role in aiding Delphi's escape from the tax system may complicate the president's new campaign against corporate expatriation. After a wave of companies announced plans to shift addresses this year, Obama last month labeled the firms "corporate deserters."

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