Mission
As consumers of a wide range of products including but not limited to the very laptop or computer you are reading this from, there is a great demand for things at a cheap cost.
Consumers' taste for products at an affordable price has made companies find alternate systems that satisfy both their goal of maximum profit and the interest of their customer. One of most effective alternative systems that is used today is the maquiladora industry.
This website is dedicated to serve as an informative site where you can explore the maquiladora industry in its function, its role in the global economy, and the overall pros and cons of the system. This website is not created to advocate for or against maquiladoras, but rather, to talk about the realities of the industry as can be deduced from research, academic articles, and first hand experiences.
All of the information on this site has been carefully collected, written, and condensed to provide you with the most knowledge and greatest understanding of the implications of the maquiladora industry. I highly encourage going to the reference/links page if you would like to learn more about the subject and/or would like to see others' academic work on the topic.
Maquiladoras – Educate yourself.
Consumers' taste for products at an affordable price has made companies find alternate systems that satisfy both their goal of maximum profit and the interest of their customer. One of most effective alternative systems that is used today is the maquiladora industry.
This website is dedicated to serve as an informative site where you can explore the maquiladora industry in its function, its role in the global economy, and the overall pros and cons of the system. This website is not created to advocate for or against maquiladoras, but rather, to talk about the realities of the industry as can be deduced from research, academic articles, and first hand experiences.
All of the information on this site has been carefully collected, written, and condensed to provide you with the most knowledge and greatest understanding of the implications of the maquiladora industry. I highly encourage going to the reference/links page if you would like to learn more about the subject and/or would like to see others' academic work on the topic.
Maquiladoras – Educate yourself.
A Brief History of Maquiladoras
What is a Maquiladora?
A maquiladora is a Mexican assembly plant that imports materials and equipment on a duty-free and tariff-free basis. Maquiladoras receive raw materials from companies in the U.S. to assemble and export back as finished products. Maquiladoras are generally owned by U.S. companies that are incentivized to build Maquilas in Mexican border towns in return for low-cost labor and savings . How were Maquiladoras formed? The Maquiladora sector was created under the National Border Development Program ( Programa Fronterizo, or PRONAF). PRONAF is a program that was developed by the Mexican government in 1965 which grants licenses to foreign companies to import machinery, raw materials, and parts into Mexico. The program was created in effort to boost Mexico’s economy and to create jobs for those living in the border towns. Currently, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is the most significant law affecting maquiladoras by having created a free trade zone between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Under NAFTA, tariff exemptions are no longer confined to the border regions, but now run throughout Mexico. (Source: http://www.udel.edu/leipzig/texts2/vox128.htm) The following is a PowerPoint presentation on Maquiliadoras. Click to download the file.
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(image source: http://vang.blob.core.windows.net/images/2013/03/26/
maquiladora-trabajo-12.jpg) Examples of Maquiladoras
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Location
Maquiladoras are mostly found in the Mexican border states of Baja California and Chihuahua. To be precise, the 6 border states of Mexico that make up the maquiladora border are: Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, and Tamaulipas. Most of the maquiladoras however, are found in Ciudad Juarez and in Tijuana, Mexico. While most maquilas are concentrated along the US-Mexico border towns, maquiladoras can also be found all throughout Mexico.
The above is an image captured from Google maps. It shows a number of maquiladoras in Tijuana.
Click the image, and you will be led to the actual google maps page, where one can scroll in and out and get a better look. |
Header image source: http://infranetlab.org/blog/border-economies-maquiladora-export-landscape