30 years on, whose side of this NAFTA debate would you support

[Celerity]

16. The Problems With NAFTA

NAFTA's 6 Most Negative Effects

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement as of July 1, 2020. While it accomplished some good things for the economy, NAFTA also had six major weaknesses. These disadvantages had a negative impact on both American and Mexican workers and even the environment.

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/disadvantages-of-nafta-3306273

U.S. Jobs Were Lost

Since labor is cheaper in Mexico, many manufacturing industries withdrew part of their production from the high-cost United States. Between 1994 and 2010, the U.S. trade deficits with Mexico totaled $97.2 billion. In the same period, 682,900 U.S. jobs went to Mexico. But 116,400 of those jobs were displaced after 2007, meaning the 2008 financial crisis may have played a role. Almost 80% of the losses were in manufacturing. The hardest-hit states were California, New York, Michigan, and Texas. They had high concentrations of the industries that moved plants to Mexico. These industries included motor vehicles, textiles, computers, and electrical appliances.

U.S. Wages Were Suppressed

Not all companies in these industries moved to Mexico, but some used the threat of moving as leverage against union-organizing drives. When workers had to choose between joining the union and losing the factory, workers chose the plant. Without union support, the workers had little bargaining power. That suppressed wage growth. According to Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University, many companies in industries that were moving to Mexico used the threat of closing the factory. Between 1993 and 1999, 64% of U.S. manufacturing firms in those industries used that threat. By 1999, the rate had grown to 71%.

Mexico's Farmers Were Put Out of Business

Due to NAFTA, Mexico lost nearly 1.3 million farm jobs from 1994 to 2004. The 2002 Farm Bill subsidized U.S. agribusiness by as much as 40% of net farm income. When NAFTA removed trade tariffs, companies exported corn and other grains to Mexico below cost. Rural Mexican farmers could not compete. At the same time, Mexico reduced its subsidies to farmers from 33.2% of total farm income in 1990 to 13.2% in 2001. Most of those subsidies went to Mexico's large farms. These changes meant many small Mexican farmers were put out of business by highly subsidized American farmers.

Maquiladora Workers Were Exploited

NAFTA expanded the maquiladora program by removing tariffs. This program allows United States-owned companies to employ Mexican workers near the border. They cheaply assemble products for export back into the United States. The program grew to employ 30% of Mexico's labor force. These worksites were known for abusing worker rights, with reports of workdays lasting 12 hours or more and women being subjected to pregnancy test when they applied for jobs.

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SOURCES

The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “NAFTA’s Promise and Reality,” Page 6.

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