1. Trouble in Juarez BY Chris Maleki Jason Swope

2.  NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was signed by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  NAFTA was signed in 1993 and went into effect on January 1, 1994.

3.  NAFTA was written to create a Free Trade Area in North America.  “Free Trade” means that countries may freely trade goods with each other without having to pay a tariff (tax) on those goods.  In other words, “free trade” means no trade barriers.

4.  The purpose of the agreement is to:  Allow free movement of goods and services among the countries.  Promote competition in the free trade areas.  Protect the property rights of people and businesses in each country.  Be able to resolve problems that arise among the countries.  Encourage cooperation among countries.

5.  Free trade increases sales and profits for Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A., thus strengthening their economies.  Lack of tariffs has allowed Mexico to sell its goods in the USA and Canada at lower prices. This makes Mexican products more competitive in these markets and increases Mexico’s profits as it tries to develop its economy.  Free trade is an opportunity for the U.S. to provide financial help to Mexico by making jobs available in factories located there.

6.  Free trade has caused more U.S. jobs losses than gains, especially for higher-wage jobs.  Factories, called Maquiladoras, are built on the Mexican border and workers are hired there to make goods at a much lower wage than workers would be paid in the U.S.A.

7.  Minimum Wage Mexico - $3.40 per day vs. US - $5.15 per hour  Example: Hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing Mexico - $1.21 vs US - $17.70  (Global Trade Watch, The NAFTA Index, October 1, 1998)

8.  United States Can move factories to Mexico and ship goods to US with no tariffs Wouldn’t have to pay workers in Mexico as much as US Sell products cheaper but still make good profit Americans lose jobs  Mexico Wouldn’t like foreign owned factories because they would create competition and hurt Mexican owned businesses Maquiladoras would provide jobs for Mexicans, but the profit made by maquiladoras would go back into the US economy, not into Mexico’s

9.  Mexico It would provide a job in a country where there are not enough jobs However, the wages are very low and the working conditions are not good Building factories creates pollution. An environmentalist would want to make sure that Mexico had laws to protect the environment.

10.  Background Information  Disadvantages of NAFTA  Advantages of NAFTA  Trouble in Juarez  Conclusion

11.  Implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began on January 1, 1994.  While some tariffs were eliminated immediately, others would take anywhere from 5-15 years to be eliminated.

12.  This agreement removed most barriers for investment among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  In addition, under NAFTA, all non-tariff barriers to agricultural trade between the United States and Mexico were eliminated.

13.  The Implementation process of NAFTA’s no barriers was completed in 2008.  In 2008, the last of NAFTA’s transitional restrictions governing U.S., Mexico and Canada’s agricultural trade were removed: This concluded a 14-year project in which the member countries systematically dismantled numerous barriers to regional agricultural trade.

14.  NAFTA created the world's largest free trade area, which now links 444 million people and producing $17 trillion worth of goods and services.  The North American Free Trade Agreement has two Supplements, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation

15.  Some economists argue that NAFTA has been beneficial to business owners and elites in all three countries, but has had negative impacts on farmers in Mexico who saw food prices fall based on cheap imports from U.S. agribusiness and negative impacts on U.S. workers in manufacturing and assembly industries who lost jobs.

16.  Other economists believe that NAFTA has not been sufficient (or worked fast enough) to produce economic convergence, nor to substantially reduce poverty rates.  In addition, some have suggested that in order to fully benefit from the agreement, Mexico must invest more in education and promote innovation in infrastructure and agriculture.

17.  Since labor is cheaper in Mexico, many U.S. manufacturing industries moved part of their production from high-cost states to Mexico.  Between 1994 and 2002, the U.S. lost approximately 1.7 million jobs while gaining only 794,000 for a net loss of 879,000 jobs.  These industries included, but were not limited to Agri-businesses.

18.  NAFTA expanded the maquiladora program, in which U.S.-owned companies employed Mexican workers near the border to cheaply assemble products for export to the U.S.  According to The Continental Social Alliance, these workers have; “no labor rights or health protections, workdays can stretch 12 hours or more, and if you are a woman, you could be forced to take a pregnancy test when applying for a job."

19.  In 2007, Canada and Mexico were, respectively, the first and second largest export markets for U.S. agricultural products.  Exports to the two markets combined were greater than exports to the next six largest markets combined.

20.  Agricultural trade increased in both directions(U.S.-Mexico) under NAFTA from $7.3 billion in 1994 to $20.1 billion in 2006.  This was an approximately 300% increase in economic activity: Or 25% year over year growth (12 years).

21.  From 1992-2007, the value of U.S. agricultural exports worldwide climbed 65%.  Over that same period, U.S. farm and food exports to Mexico and Canada grew by 156%.

22.  NAFTA expanded the maquiladora program, which enabled U.S.-owned companies to employ Mexican workers near the border.  This allowed for more efficient assembly of manufactured goods and in turn, increased exports to the U.S.  This increased Mexico’s labor force by 30%

23. Population of Mexico- 111,211,789M est. Population- Juarez, Mexico-1.5M est. 97.35% of population not in Juarez 2.65% of population in Juarez

24.  According to Foreign Policy in Focus Juarez is “The Murder Capital of the World”.  Jaurez sits adjacent to El Paso, Texas.  NAFTA is believed to blamed by some for the violence.

25.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9MXJR nqG1A&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9MXJR nqG1A&feature=related  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMdRfJT QvAk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMdRfJT QvAk&feature=related

26.  NAFTA is complicated and often intensely debated by many.  Although there have been some negative social consequences associated with NAFTA. Overall it has increased economic activity for all trading partners.