America lost almost 400.000 jobs as American companies moved to Mexico. More than 11,000 of those jobs were in Oregon.
The favorable balance of trade turned into a $16 billion a year trade deficit by 1998. In 1993 it was a $475 million trade surplus.
Illegal immigration from Mexico has increased and now results in more deaths in the desert than ever before.
Environmental degradation has increased. In the maquiladora zones, the increased pollution and improper disposal of chemical wastes has dramatically increased cases of hepatitis and birth defeats. In the border areas 44 tons of hazardous waste are disposed of improperly. In Canada, the American based Etheyl Corporation sued when Canada banned MMT, forcing Canada to repeal its ban and pay Ethyl Corporation $19 million dollars. MMT, a gasoline additive, was banned because of its neurological effect similar to Parkinson’s disease.
NAFTA has had a negative effect on the Mexican standard of living. Over 1 million Mexican work for less than the minimum wage of $3.40 per day than did before NAFTA. Mexican real wages have dropped 29% since NAFTA. Mexican people are being forced off their land because they cannot compete with U.S. grown corn. Since the beginning of NAFTA, 8 million Mexicans have fallen from the middle class into poverty.
NAFTA has been used to threaten American workers to be docile so that during the current economic expansion, American workers’ wages have stagnated. According to a study conducted under the auspices of NAFTA’s labor side agreement, 90% of 400 plant closings or threatened plant closings in the US in a 5 year period occurred illegally in the face of a union organizing drive.