Ever notice the tag on many everyday items that reads “made in Mexico”? With how much the modern world has become connected through trade it is surprising to see how many of the everyday items we use come from the United States’ southern neighbor. During the early 2000s the United States accounted for almost 80% of Mexican trade as reported by Forbes but why?
The answer: Maquiladoras.
Many have heard of the term globalization where culture and ideas can spread from one country to the next, but this process also applies to businesses and manufacturers as well. Maquiladoras are a primary example of this process occurring in Northern Mexico where these large foreign manufacturing companies like BMW, Fisher Price, and Samsung have flocked to in search of increasing their profit margins. Essentially foreign entities move production from their home country to Mexico which happens as a result of seeking cheap labor and tax free incentives.
However, profit is only really benefiting one side of the equation; being that of corporations. While it might paint the picture of helping the local Mexican population with being a job opportunity for them there is a gray-area here that comes in the form of worker exploitation bringing long-term policy like the North American Free Trade Agreement into debate.
On paper, the Maquiladoras seem like a great business venture, but to the critical eye one can note that businesses such as these are almost never completely fair. Like many company plights there are always risks to be taken, for Maquiladoras these came in the form of unintended consequences of their large scale implementations.
The mid 1980s- early 2000s saw the initial buzz of these foreign factories popping up on the Mexican side of the US-Mex border. This buzz did not only bring in factories though. With them came health and environmental issues.
In a report published by CorpWatch stated that “Next to a colonia in Matamoros, foaming liquid gushes into a canal…Colonia residents transport drinking water laden with toxic wastes in empty gallon drums once used as chemical containers. The growth of electronics, chemical, and furniture plants on the border since the 1980s has greatly increased the amount of industrial solvents polluting the environment.”
Mexicans in these areas seeking employment often find work in these factories. They were getting jobs in exchange for risk to their health and the environment that they lived in.
Currently the practice of using Mexican labor in these maquiladoras has come to a halt. After a surge in cases against the maquiladora industry calling for reparations from years of worker exploitation, environmental damages, and human rights violations brought cooperation into the mainstream spotlight and finally came change in the workplace. The cases also showcased the issue many corporations had with putting profit before personhood.
The continued push from increasing profit margins also brings in arguments for these workers to earn a livable wage. This modern issue is in a league of its own though when but against the issues the 90s saw. In many cases this is a double edged sword. With a consistent labor cost remaining at $2 USD since the late 1990s one can see why companies move their productions to Mexico specifically for access to cheap labor. If higher wages are demanded then companies lose their goal and Mexico loses its subsequent attractiveness. In turn, the laborers in wanting a wage increase might lose it completely if these maquiladoras choose to pull their operations from Mexican soil.
Why does any of this matter though?
Maquiladoras, though a practice concentrated in Mexico, affects the whole world. This international effect is a result of how interconnected the world is. Countries depend on one another for certain goods and thus trade is globally impacted from something like this. It sets a precedent to these global corporations too with a domino effect of repercussions should something in the process fail.
The unintended consequences like that on workers health and environmental concerns also reinforce the message that pursuit of profits can only go so fair. Areas like risk management and safeguards are of utmost importance in ensuring responsible tactics are being used. Although labor might have a cost , that does not mean that the humans that perform it do too.
