TRACKING THE ECONOMY: NAFTA TURNS TEN 1994 – 2004

Number of pages in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): 900

Final tally for the vote that narrowly passed NAFTA in the U.S. House of Representatives: 234-200

Amount of U.S. jobs some officials predicted NAFTA would create each year: 200,000

Number of “NAFTA-related [U.S.] jobs” created since 1993, according to former President Bush Sr.: 2,000,000

Total number of people in the United States who lost their jobs from March 2001 to October 2003: 2,400,000

Chance that a U.S. worker in the manufacturing sector lost his/her job since NAFTA was implemented: 1 in 6

Total number of jobs lost in hardest-hit California due to increased imports from 1993-2002: 115,723

Net number of U.S. jobs lost from 1993-2002 due to the NAFTA trade deficit: 879,280

Number of NAFTA U.S. job-loss victims as of 2002 on Transitional Adjustment Assistance unemployment: 525,094

Estimated responsibility of trade for the growth of U.S. wage inequality expressed as a percentage: 15 to 20

Ratio of Mexican to U.S. manufacturing wages: 2:10

Amount that ratio changed since the implementation of NAFTA: 0

Ratio of wages for Mexican workers as compared to their Canadian counterparts in U.S. affiliates: 2:8

Number of complaints regarding labor rights violations filed under the NAFTA labor side agreement: 26

Number of those cases that resulted in anything more than a consultation between Labor Ministers: 0

Number of Mexicans living in extreme poverty according to the World Bank: 25,000,000

Number of new maquiladoras (Mexico’s foreign-owned export assembly plants) from 1993-2002: 1,137

Hours it takes a maquila worker in Tijuana to earn enough money to buy a kilo of rice: 1.5

Percentage change in the price index of Mexico’s basic products (the so-called canasta básica) from 1994-2002: +257

Percentage of maquiladora jobs created in the 1990s that have since disappeared: 30

Portion of Mexico’s trade surplus with the United States attributed to maquila exports: 1/2

Percentage of Mexico’s total exports that go to the United States: 90

Percentage change of Mexico’s trade deficit with Asia and Europe since 1994, respectively: +600, +400

Percentage of foreign direct investment in Mexico represented by job-cutting mergers and acquisitions: 20

Percentage change in fresh credit to Mexico’s non-banking sector because of restrictive monetary policies: –60

Minimum number of U.S. free trade agreements currently being negotiated with Latin American nations: 7

Total number of free trade agreements that Mexico has in place: 32

Percentage change in the United States’ net export deficit with its NAFTA partners from 1994-2002: +281

Number of cases brought by foreign companies seeking monetary compensation over state regulatory policies: 27

Amount Mexico had to pay Metalclad for canceling a toxic waste dump over environmental concerns: $15,600,000

Percent change in Mexico’s real spending on pollution monitoring and on-site inspections since 1994: –45

Per annum increase since 1994 of pollution produced by Mexico’s manufacturing sector: +10

Estimated cost of Mexico’s environmental degradation expressed as a percentage of its annual GDP: 10

Gallons of water Mexico owes the United States due to water-intensive agricultural production: 450,000,000,000

Amount the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill pays farmers over ten years: $190,000,000,000

Percentage of the U.S. work force that are farmers: 2.7

Number of jobs Mexico’s agricultural sector lost from 1993-2002: 1,300,000

Remaining number of years until final tariffs are removed on corn: 5

Percentage of Mexico’s cultivated farmland dedicated to that staple crop: 55

Approximate number of Mexican corn farmers: 4,000,000

Estimated number of undocumented Mexicans currently residing in the United States: 4,800,000

Estimated number of Mexicans who illegally cross the U.S. border every year: 150,000

Percentage change in U.S. border patrol agents since NAFTA went into effect: +150

Number of major indigenous uprisings: 1

NACLA would like to thank the following for their assistance in compiling sources for this page: Alejandro Alvarez Bejar, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Sarah Anderson, Institute for Policy Studies; David Bacon; Robert E. Scott, Economic Policy Institute; the Americas Program at the Interhemispheric Resource Center; the Hemispheric Social Alliance; and Public Citizen.

SOURCES
1. Public Citizen, “The Ten Year Track Record of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” November 2003, www.citizen.org/documents/NAFTA_10_jobs.pdf
2. James O. Goldsborough, “Farm Problems Expose Weak Link of NAFTA,” San Diego Union Tribune, January 2, 2003.
3. Emad Mekay, “NAFTA has been a Disaster for Mexico, Carnegie Study Says,” Global Information Network/Inter Press Service, November 18, 2003.
4. Robert E. Scott, “The High Price of ‘Free’ Trade,” Economic Policy Institute, November 2003, www.epinet.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp147
5. Ibid.
6. Public Citizen, “The Ten Year Track Record of the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
7. Robert E. Scott, “The High Price of ‘Free’ Trade.”
8. Ibid.
9. Public Citizen, “The Ten Year Track Record of the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
10. Robert E. Scott, “The High Price of ‘Free’ Trade.”
11. Interhemispheric Resource Center, “Seven Myths About NAFTA and Three Lessons for Latin America,” Americas Program, November 2003.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. From “NAFTA: A Decade of Strengthening a Dynamic Relationship,” a joint statement by the three NAFTA trade representatives, 2003.
15. Personal communication with Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
16. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere, November 2003.
17. Robert E. Scott, “The High Price of ‘Free’ Trade.”
18. David Bacon, “NAFTA at 10,” Green Left Weekly, November 26, 2003.
19. IRC, “Seven Myths About NAFTA and Three Lessons for Latin America.”
20. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere.
21. IRC, “Seven Myths About NAFTA and Three Lessons for Latin America.”
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Traci Carl, “U.S. Cobbling Together Free Trade Nations,” Associated Press, December 5, 2003.
27. Dow Jones, “Mexico Halts Free-Trade Pursuit On Corp Leaders’ Request,” November 13, 2003.
28. Robert E. Scott, “The High Price of ‘Free’ Trade.”
29. Ibid.
30. Hemispheric Social Alliance, “The High Cost of ‘Free’Trade,” June 2003.
31. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere.
32. Ibid.
33. IRC, “Seven Myths About NAFTA and Three Lessons for Latin America.”
34. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere.
35. James O. Goldsborough, “Farm Problems Expose Weak Link of NAFTA.”
36. Ibid.
37. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere.
38. James O. Goldsborough, “Farm Problems Expose Weak Link of NAFTA.”
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, NAFTA’s Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere.
42. James O. Goldsborough, “Farm Problems Expose Weak Link of NAFTA.”
43. Immigration Naturalization Service Fact Sheet on Border Management, February 9, 1999. Also see: “Rising INS Attrition Rates Could Threaten Border Security,”Government Executive, April 10, 2002.