Companies in the 1960’s realized that they could lower labor costs by moving plants to other countries with lower minimum wage than here in the united states. These assembly plants just south of the Us-Mexico boarder are called maquiladoras. These plants didn't just allow for labor costs to be lowered but also duty-free production, only rule was the goods must be exported out of Mexico. The maquiladoras also gave much needed jobs to the Mexican workers. The first few years of the new millennium many of these maquiladoras went out of business, due to lower wages in countries such as China and Guatemala. Since 2004, we have seen a rise in the number of maquiladoras on the Mexican boarder. We are seeing this increase because of high value products
Employing Mexicans for such minimal wages implies a peculiar kind of a 20th century imperialism: GM is able to extract enormous profits and to become the world’s largest corporation by super-exploiting labor in a country less well developed and economically influenced by the USA.
First, it is best to explore the origin and function of the maquiladora in the economy. Mexico's Border Industrialization Program of 1966 first established the maquiladoras. The plants must operate within the framework of Mexican laws, and
In the third world countries such as Vietnam, China, South Korea and Taiwan, we are provided with an example of cheap labour. These corporations could now achieve the benefit of the United States consumer market8, while keeping their costs extremely low in offshore production. The working conditions in the United States were poor for centuries, often little to nothing was done unless a tragedy occurred to influence worker rights by the public. This was the issue during the Industrial Revolution and in the late 20th century. In the United states, improvements have been made and these conditions have disappeared, with the privilege in some agricultural areas. Companies from the United States have moved a considerable amount of their factories
As a major contributor to the global economy, Mexico’s sweatshops have contributed to the United States’ wealth and economic growth. It is the unfortunate truth that many individual workers have suffered as a result of this prosperity. The sweatshops, known as maquiladoras, are in debate because of the ethical and lawful reasoning behind their existence and conditions. How can we, as a First-world nation, allow such industries to exist where people are denied basic and fundamental human rights? What, if any, laws and regulations are put into place for the maquiladoras? Are these laws and regulations hindering, harmful, or helpful? Are they enforced emphatically? If not, how does this affect development? After
The devaluation of this currency leads to lower costs for the subsidiary, in relation to wages, since the peso has depreciated against the USD during this time period. The facility can purchase Mexican pesos with their USD profits at increasingly appealing exchange rates, and then use these pesos to finance new operations. By doing so, this shows the positive effect of the devaluation of the peso for the Maquiladora Assembly Facility.
Historically, agriculture has been the most important sector of Mexico’s economy, since plants and grains were first domesticated to today’s modern world. Today, Mexico’s main agricultural products like corn, fruits and vegetables that make up about 80% of agricultural production, which in many states is the only source of income that people have to survive day to day. Unfortunately, this livelihood has become threatened by the American subsides that create unfair competition with local Mexican farmers and small business, by offering to the Mexican market a vast supply of agricultural products along with low prices that take away jobs from millions of farmers. These unfortunate circumstances are damaging consequences
Unlike the United States 7.25/hr minimum wage, Mexico’s minimum wage is set at just few dollars per day. Careless of the American working class, large corporations closed factories in the US and moved them south of the border to Mexico where they could pay workers a minimum wage and not have to conform to regulations. Since Mexico was added, the US manufacturing sector has outsourced five million jobs (Blecker). Many of these workers did not have a backup plan or funds to support them after they lost their job therefore they fell into extreme poverty. Sadly, these workers could not provide for their families and struggled to survive. Not only did NAFTA ruin the US manufacturing job market, the trade deficit between the USA and Mexico grew exponentially and now sits at an unfathomable amount. The deficit took a turn for the worse due to NAFTA, the United states had a 1.7 billion dollar surplus in 1993 (prior to Mexico’s addition), to a 54 billion dollar deficit by 2014 (Mcbride). Clearly, the United States lost a significant amount of currency due to NAFTA. Although the US is commonly on the losing side of trade deals, NAFTA is by far the most detrimental to the
Exploitation and gendered labor is an ever-present issue that has presented itself in nations across Latin America as well as globally. One of the ways in which this is clearly visible is in the maquiladora industry, large-scale export-oriented factories that dot the landscapes of many Latino countries. Multinational corporations such as Nike, Panasonic, and Zenith, all set up shop in areas beyond the border as a means of avoiding many restrictions when it comes to taxes and trades. Furthermore it allows these large conglomerates to avoid having to pay more for labor than they would say if they were in areas of the United States or even parts of Western Europe. Mexico in particular, is one nation that is home to more than one-point-two million men, women, and children, all of whom work in these factories as a means of attempting to survive and make somewhat of a living . Maquiladora workers are infamous for not only their terribly harsh working conditions and extremely low wages, but also for the way in which the dynamics of these factories work, in terms of gender and treatment because of this. Approximately forty-three point six million women, seven-point-five percent of the world’s employed women, are paid domestic workers, a number that is most likely not accurate either because of the nature of the work . In maquiladora work alone, approximately eighty percent of the labor force is young women . Behind this gendered percentage is a series of causes and consequences as
Mexico has 2,456 municipalities distributed across 32 states. Municipal governments vary from municipalities with about 100 inhabitants to municipalities that are metropolitan areas with more than one million of population. The larger the population, the larger the amount of resources allocated for investing in technology and for developing digital government projects and applications. For this study only municipalities that equal or are above 100,000 inhabitants were considered (205 municipalities). The 16 local governments called “delegaciones” of the City of Mexico which is the Capital District were excluded from the sample due to the fact that all financial information of each of them are consolidated at the District level´s website. The
Several industries in America have moved low-skill, low-wage jobs overseas. Often, the motivation behind the relocation of these jobs is corporate financial gain. Companies can decrease production costs by utilizing low-cost labor in foreign countries. Manufacturing is one industry that has moved low-skill, low-wage jobs overseas. In 1980, the United States manufacturing employment was 21.3 million. Yet, in 2010, the United States manufacturing employment shrunk to 14.1 million (Douglas, 2017).
If business is booming in a fast food restaurant and there is the potential to increase business with an increased output there may be two ways of increasing the output; by increasing the amount of labor used and by making capital investment, such as buying more equipment, such as a new grill and fryer.
By using the case study of Mexico’s maquiladora industry, this short analytical paper will show how the debt crisis of the early 1980s prompted key governing institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to enforce structural adjustment programs on Global South economies. To this end, I will begin with an analysis of the debt crisis and describe how the adjustment programs have encouraged these states to institute export processing zones (EPZs) in an effort to attract foreign investment. Given that these EPZs primarily hire women, it will be shown that gendered labour has ultimately furthered the “globalization project” as states adopt neoliberal policies and begin to participate in the world economy.
The American Outsourcing Case is a compilation of factual information for the purpose of provoking debates. The authors present both the pros and cons of outsourcing, and avoid inserting their personal bias. The case clearly defines outsourcing and then focuses on outlining its existence in China, Mexico, and India. The evolution and U.S. involvement in the Maquiladoras of Mexico is described first. The implementation of NAFTA and the creation of Maquiladoras were major catalysts in the growth of free trade between the U.S. and Mexico. China, in an attempt to attract foreign investors, created Special Economic Areas, which designated geographic zones that were enabled to operate under their own laws. With great tax benefits
Mexico offers vast opportunity as a potential market for J-Tec Industries. Its accessibility and limited trade barriers make it ideal for direct exporting. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, cross-border investment and trade has increased to more than 1.1 trillion USD in 2016. Additionally, foreign direct investment has also increased to more than 100 billion USD. Since its implementation, hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs have been created in Mexico. (Council on Foreign Relations, web, 2016) The low cost of labor is appealing to manufacturing companies. Euromonitor also notes there are approximately 20,052,772 people employed in the manufacturing industry as of 2015. (Euromonitor, web, 2016), thus making Mexico an attractive market for J-Tec’s CarryMore Tugger Cart System for handling and transporting materials.
After the NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement) companies contemplate Mexico to build their factories. One of those factories was Kohler Building Big Fixtures Plant in Mexico, it began his construction project in the city of Monterrey. The implementation of Maquiladoras was a success for American Factories, the savings in labor was an incentive for companies to move their factories. The factory was without doubt one of the major investors in Mexico, providing great job opportunities for residents in the city of Monterrey.