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Nafta pros and cons essay
Nafta pros and cons essay
Nafta pros and cons essay
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Calculating the Costs of NAFTA
Effective on January 1, 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) was enacted as a new dream, one designed to enhance the economies
and production of goods for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Since its
conception, it was, and still remains today a controversy over the “potential
greatness and predictive results” vs. the actual facts and figures that have been
witnessed. Now, only some five years later, many would agree that this dream
has developed into a nightmare for those on all sides of the border. This
agreement’s far-reaching and damaging effects have been felt--in the United States--
mostly by the small business owners, and the individual middle-to-lower class
worker. I will expand on these points, however, I must also mention the plight of
our nation’s neighbors, who share in the consequences of this pact. NAFTA is on
its way to marking a decline in the American economy, an increase in
unemployment, and a general deterioration in the morale of the workforce in
America.
The glorious theory of NAFTA sure sounded innocent enough. In fact, it
painted the beautiful picture of North American countries holding hands in a
union bound for excellence. Together, they would strive for a common wealth
and to each, a revival of imports and exports; thus improving the economic
traditions of all. Free trade (eliminating tariffs) between countries and
expansion of sales across the border were the main objectives in the agreement,
and each side had something to gain through the process(Online, 1). Canada, who
imports vast amounts of agricultural products, appreciated the elimination of
tariffs on the goods that are brought into their country. For the United States,
the opportunities were many. The expansion of trade meant more product
needed, therefore more jobs would be created to employ the people. It also
allowed for the establishment of manufacturers anywhere in North America
without any exchange penalties. This is what made it possible to abuse the
cheaper labor in Mexico to make American products and then sell these back to
the Americans at the same price. Mexico had bright hopes for the future, also. It
seemed they had been granted a more respectable position in international
commerce. In addition, it could also provide more jobs for their poverty-stricken
public(Creations, 1-5). Collectively, these merits looked great on paper and
achieved much support from both democrats and republicans, providing for its
passing in both the Senate and House of Representatives. In its only opposition,
were mostly labor unions, knowing the effects of the cheaper Mexican labor; and
Mexican Lives is a rare piece of literature that accounts for the human struggle of an underdeveloped nation, which is kept impoverished in order to create wealth for that of another nation, the United States. The reader is shown that the act of globalization and inclusion in the world’s economies, more directly the United States, is not always beneficial to all parties involved. The data and interviews, which Hellman has put forth for her readers, contain some aspect of negativity that has impacted their lives by their nation’s choice to intertwine their economy with that of the United States. Therefore it can only be concluded that the entering into world markets, that of Mexico into the United States, does not always bring on positive outcomes. Thus, one sees that Mexico has become this wasteland of economic excrement; as a result it has become inherently reliant on the United States.
In today’s society you either have to work hard to live a good life, or just inherit a lump sum of cash, which is probably never going to happen. So instead a person has to work a usual nine to five just to put food on the table for their families, and in many cases that is not even enough. In the article, “Why We Work” by Andrew Curry, Curry examines the complexities of work and touches on the reasons why many workers feel unsatisfied with their jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich writes an essay called, “Serving in Florida” which is about the overlooked life of being a server and the struggles of working off low minimum wages. Curry’s standpoint on jobs is that workers are not satisfied, the job takes control of their whole life, and workers spend
In addition, Mexicans as well as US citizens will start to demand more accountability from the Mexican government and the Maquiladora industry. They need to be more responsible for their actions. What will the U.S. corporations do when human rights activists and environmentalists start lobbying and protesting on their US sites? Do they want to risk losing their shareholders to this type of negative attention?
The North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA—was an important agreement signed between three countries—the U.S., Mexico and Canada. NAFTA played an important role between each of these countries’ relations with one another through imports and exports. Throughout the presidential elections throughout the years, NAFTA has been highly debated on whether or not it has helped benefit the economy of these countries or if it has caused a lot detrimental issues. NAFTA promised many benefits for these countries, but not all of their promises were carried through; many views across the political spectrum also have their indifferences about NAFTA.
this is up by 50% from 1988, when they first signed a free trade agreement.
Throughout history, the United States has initiated policies, peace agreements, or laws which were believed to bring prosperity, and success, however those policies as a result were created in the U.S. best self-interest. One of these policies is known as NAFTA, which was a trade agreement created to open up free trade around the globe, however this policy backfired, deeply scaring and deteriorating the Latin American economy, and its people. Specifically, NAFTA known as the North American Free Trade Agreement, took effect on January 1, 1994 was a treaty which entered by the United States, Canada, and Mexico used to eliminate tariff barriers, in order to encourage economic prosperity between these three countries. A quarter century later, the
The relationship between the United States and Mexico has become increasingly complicated since the 19th century. In the mid-1800s, the United States aimed to spread its territory by settling a large portion of Mexico’s territory, including parts of California, Arizona, and Texas. The United States was drawn to Mexico’s rich land and its agricultural opportunities. Mexico had achieved its independence from Spain just before the U.S.-Mexican War, and was not ready to give up its newly acquired land. In 1846, however, war between the U.S. and its Southern neighbors began. Throughout the struggle, the United States exerted its power over Mexico. Many Mexicans felt threatened by the power of the U.S. The United States was viewed as a neighboring bully, looking to exert its force unjustly over innocent and defenseless people. A number of unfortunate personal exchanges throughout the dispute only worsened the nation’s opinions of each other. Mexico continued to see the U.S. as an overly powerful polity, threatening to discredit Mexico’s legitimacy as an independent nation. The United States saw Mexico as a disrespectful and inadequate younger sibling .
In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico in an attempt to acquire the disputed Rio Grande. It was after the US annexation coupled with failed efforts to purchase the territory from Mexico. The war went on for close to two years. By the end of this period, the US was divided on whether or not the merits exceeded the demerits. The Congress, for example, debated about how much was enough territory for the US to acquire when the war ended. Eventually, the US and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty provided an understanding between the two governments. This paper will analyze the effects of the agreement about the welfare of the Mexican people.
In February 2, 1848, the final armistice treaty Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, through which the United States government got the access to entire area of California, Nevada, Utah plus some territory in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. As a compensation, the United States government paid 18.25 million dollars to Mexico.( Pecquet, Gary M., and C. F. Thies. 2010) However, apart from the death of people, Mexico lost half of its territory in this war, which initiate Mexican’s hostile towards American. In addition, after the Mexican-American war, there was an absence of national sense in Mexican, which had a negative effect on the unity and development of the country.
“The Perilous State of Mexico.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 21 Feb. 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Turbulent times of a newly freed democracy bred a longing for civil liberties and birthed what would become equality for all. The United States of America, known for independence, has not always been balanced in its freedom. The labor movement in America was a significant step in developing equal opportunity. In the nation’s infancy, working conditions were abominable. Workers were underpaid, overworked, and abused. Women and children in the workforce were ubiquitous in certain industries, often earning far less than a man would. Countless laborers were injured or killed on the job, and there was no health insurance. If a worker was wounded while working, he or she would simply be replaced. As a result of the deplorable labor environment, unions
The first source is demonstrating the effect of the NAFTA which stands for North American Free Trade Agreement. The NAFTA is a political agreement between Canada, USA and Mexico, and the purpose of this agreement is to improve trading relations by decreasing trade barriers, by removing tariffs. The first source shows an image of a political cartoon. In this image there is a man with a sad expression on his face in front of a US factory, with a sign on the building saying “Labor Day: This year’s picnic will be held in Mexico, where your job went”. What the source is demonstrating is one of the negative effects of the NAFTA, which is job loss for Americans. The source shows this through symbolism and labelling: The sad man represents American
In 1821, Mexico won its independence back from Spain but that wasn’t the end of their fight. Many countries have continued to struggle after engaging in war, whether they win or lose, and Mexico was no different. Recovery was challenging, they face many political challenges, and struggled to secure a suitable leader. It was also difficult for them to populate and protect borders of the northern area they acquired when winning their independence. Populating these areas was made even more difficult by the constant conflict and fighting they engaged in with the Native Americans. Not only that, but the central government and the poorer frontier communities clashed when it came to theirs ideals and they struggled to communicate and work
...Mexico. What happened in the end was that the United States agricultural industry flourished and the land became rich soil under the hard work of the Bracero’s, and Mexicans went home with just about as little as they had to start. Few were able to thrive but many remained poor and endured many hardships. In fact many people consider the Bracero legal slavery. They were discriminated against by many, were not provided with the proper hygienic facilities, and yet they continued to give it their all in fear that they would be sent home. Given that no one really knows what has happened to those three billion dollars, the Mexican government (not the people) may have very well benefited. The Bracero Program benefited the United States long term, possibly the Mexican Government had monetary benefits long term; the Bracero’s, sadly, saw little long term benefits.
Our 32nd President Franklin Roosevelt once said the famous words of,” Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.” (Roosevelt, Franklin) In the dilemma we face today people love to bring this up as an excuse. In all the years our great country has been established, we have always thrived upon immigrants, because even we are descended from immigrants. However when others come here to our country and are not documented and drastically change our country, then we must fight back against them to reclaim what is ours. We live in a nation where each culture and a single person is just a single important piece to make our country great, but there are recent visitors to our country which have made it a struggle to keep thriving as the great nation we are. The struggle I speak of is not immigration but illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants have caused a struggle politically, in the government and have affected you even in your own schools and work. We must rectify the immigration system to help our predicament because the effects of illegal immigration may surprise you.