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The Political Impact of Free Trade on Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Peter H. Smith
Peter H. Smith*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Extract

the rule of free trade, taken by itself, is no longer able to govern international relations … Freedom of trade is fair only if it is subject to the demands of social justice.

Pope Paul VIPopulorum Progressio

Current Debates over North American free trade focus almost exclusively on economic issues. Advocates claim that a trilateral agreement will provide impetus for sustained, long-term economic growth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States — and that it will provide a regional counterweight to the European Community (EC) and to Japan. Critics in the United States claim that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will encourage the export of US investment and employment to Mexico. Canadians fear accelerated debilitation of vulnerable sectors of the national economy, from natural gas to automobile parts. Skeptics in Mexico predict that NAFTA will perpetuate low wages for the Mexican working class and transform the entire country into a massive maquiladora.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , Spring 1992 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1992

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