Mexico City: little change under NAFTA

Fifteen years after the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect, little positive change had been seen in Mexico City.
Mexico’s exports have exploded under Nafta, quintupling to $292 billion last year, but Mexico is still exporting people too, almost half a million each year, seeking opportunities in the United States that they do not have at home.
Economists here say much of the blame lies with Mexican leaders, but some also undeniably goes to consequences of Nafta, where in some cases, results were exactly the opposite of what was promised.
One of the many examples of these consequences is after Nafta, the new factories imported parts from their global suppliers leading to the demise of local companies that had sold printed circuit boards or assembled computers under tariff protection.
Even the success of Nafta’s exports is a problem because of the declining consumption of good in general in Mexico.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will arrive in Mexico on Wednesday and President Obama will visit next month. Both are expected to emphasize the successes of American-Mexican economic cooperation, but the effects of NAFTA will be hard to ignore.

Kaitlyn Lembo