Past tense in English

Has anybody noticed how in American, the imperfect past tense is used when in British we'd use the perfect?
American:
A:Where did he go?
B:He went to the shops.

British:
A: Where has he gone?
B: He's gone to the shops.

Yes. This has been noticed and discussed here before.

I has. And, in the American South, the usage is the same as the British...

In American South they use shops for stores?

Not where I'm from... Maybe it's a deep south thing.

I don't mean the difference between 'shop' and 'store' - I am aware of that now. Perhaps:
Has he bought a new car?
Did he buy a new car?

(Don't tell me you call them automobiles!)