Great find! The discussion goes down the track of old versus new cars but the bottom line is that overseas cars are rated higher to tow than the us equivalent car.

Before, I start towing about 2000 lbs with my V6 2WD I would want to:

a) Get some first hand experience from someone who has done this or
b) Get some sort of confirmation that the Australian/European/US Outlander's are identical wrt to chasis, radiator, drive train etc.

 

In Canada, the Outlander comes standard with a heavy duty transmission cooler behind the driver side fog light. You can check for a small grill behind it.
Chassis wise, it should be exactly the same.
I personally wouldn't tow too much with the Outlander, especially on mountainous roads, as the brakes are really not up to the job. Maybe consider upgrading them first, as that is the most likely thing to cause serious issues when towing.
The car is really good at engine braking, even by itself, which is a real plus for towing. Low end torque on the V6 is really helpful for getting started.

 

Yep, I have a 2008 LS 2WD and I can see the cooler. It's black and looks like a miniature old-fashion radiator.

I guess it all comes down to liability issues. The 2WD outlander can tow 1500kg = 3300 pounds but are advertised as only 2000 pounds for liability issues. This makes more sense than the alternative explanation: that Mitsubishi builds different versions with different chasis, drive trains, suspension in Europe and Australia.

 

The main difference between US and Europe versions is the transmision. Most Outlanders and rebadged Outlanders in Europe do have manual transmission and in the USA automatic transmission