Ah, I see now why I thought this was happening for WMF and not EMF.
start inkscape open WMF file (displaced) open EMF file (not displaced)
which was how I started doing the testing, but
start inkscape open EMF file (displaced) open WMF file (not displaced)
So it wasn't WMF vs. EMF, it was the order in which the files were opened.
Ah, I see now why I thought this was happening for WMF and not EMF.
start inkscape
open WMF file (displaced)
open EMF file (not displaced)
which was how I started doing the testing, but
start inkscape
open EMF file (displaced)
open WMF file (not displaced)
So it wasn't WMF vs. EMF, it was the order in which the files were opened.