Maquiladora

Maquiladoras originated in Mexico in the 1960s along the U.S. border. In the early to mid-1990s, there were approximately 2,000 maquiladoras with 500,000 workers. In just a few years, the number of plants has almost doubled and the number of workers has more than doubled. Maquiladoras primarily produce electronic equipment, clothing, plastics, furniture, appliances, and auto parts and today eighty percent of the good produced in Mexico are shipped to the United States. Ninety percent of the goods produced at maquiladoras are shipped north to the United States.While some of the companies that own the maquiladoras have been increasing their workers' standards, most employees work without even knowledge of unions (a single official government union is the only one allowed) and some work up to 75 hours a week. Some maquiladoras are responsible for significant industrial pollution and environmental damage to the northern Mexico region.Competition from China has weakened the allure of maquiladoras in recent years and some report that more than 500 plants have closed since the beginning of the decade, causing a loss of several hundred thousand jobs. China is bolstering its status as the world's cheap assembly export location. | Import restrictions and high customs duties combined to raise US textiles and clothing prices by 58% in the late 1980s.UK consumers pay an estimated £500 million more per year for their clothing because of these restrictions. For Canadians the bill is around C$780 million. For Australians it would be A$300 annually per average family if Australian customs duties had not been reduced in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The textiles and clothing trade is going through a major reform — under the WTO — that will be completed in 2005. The programme includes eliminating restrictions on quantities of imports. |