1.Previous
3.Next

This allowed multinational corporations from the U.S. to produce products cheaply. Corporations could use a maquila to import materials and produce a good more cheaply than in the U.S. by paying Mexican laborers lower wages and paying less in duties. Mexicans work for approximately one-sixth of the U.S. hourly rate. During the five years before NAFTA, maquila employment had grown at a rate of 47%; this figure increased to 86% in the next five years. The number of factories also increased dramatically.

1.Previous
3.Next