Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The Clinton Administration: NAFTA

Thus, by 1996, the hourly medium for Mexican workers in manufacturing was $1.50, comp bed to $17.74 for U.S. manufacturing workers.

Workers in other split of the sparing did even worse: In December 1997, Mexico raised its minimum wage 14 share in Mexico City, to 30.2 pesos per day (other split of the country have gratis(p)ze off minimum wages trussed to lower living costs). That amounted to less than $4 per day (and the peso has fallen further since that time). Moreover, the percentage raise did not hap up with inflation, so those workers earning the minimum wage actually lost buying power. Mexico City's archbishop called the improver "criminal" because it amounted to a pay lop (Weintraub, 1998, p. M2).

How can U.S. workers compete against such wages? They cannot, as the invest industry can attest. In 1992, save 12 percent of American garment manufacturers did business in Mexico. By 1998, to a greater extent or less two-thirds had moved some or all of their operations in the south of the border and that was before NAFTA phased out cloth trade barriers, a process that began on January 1, 1999. Soon that figure could be unmatchable C percent, considering the relative sowing costs (35 cents versus $1.20) in each locale (Lee, 1998, pp. D6-D7).

each these jobs are moving amidst otherwise happy times in the mold industry. Los Angeles, for example, has experienced a boom in fashion manufacturing during the 1990s, yet its employment has held steady at approximately 122,000. Meanwhile, textile workers


A more precede threat to Americans comes from NAFTA's lack of standards regarding the importation of food. Section 717 of NAFTA bars more rigorous inspections of Mexican food, but even basic inspections much are not conducted. Under NAFTA, Mexican exports of food to the U.S. are up more than 50 percent, while FDA inspections have plummeted to an uncomparable low. This led to an outbreak of hepatitis in 1997, linked to strawberries imported from Mexico.

For example, one site near Tijuana contains corroding drums of chemicals abandoned in a field. Anyone could enter the area, including children, and the chemicals are seeping into nearby water, posing serious, long-run health risks to local residents.
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Moreover, illegal dumping also could increase in the near future, as the tax break for maquiladoras expires in 2001, which go forth likely prompt companies to set up middling factories that are not required to repatriate toxic burn out (Turtle wars, October 3, 1998, p. 22).

Ellingwood, K. (1998, August 12). U.S.-Mexico talks urged on safety at Tijuana plant. Los Angeles Times, p. A18.

Francis, D.R. (1999, October 18). NAFTA: discharge with the rose-colored glasses. Christian Science Monitor, p. 9.

That exodus will only accelerate if NAFTA is extended to the rest of the Americas. Wages in parts of Central and South America are even lower than in Mexico. Soon it will be a look sharp to the bottom, and even Mexico will fall behind. The lack of true majority rule in many countries will result in many Mexico-style devaluations. Leaders may find no better mode to attract businesses than to lower costs, regardless of the pain wrought on their populace. NAFTA includes no guarantees on this front, and thus is not only a bad deal for the U.S. but unjust for much of Latin America.

If NAFTA is extended, the rich will only get richer and the poor will only get poorer. The introduction of many more economies into the free trade regime, most of which are much less highly-developed t
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