The Truth About the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
American workers are now forced to compete directly with Mexican workers who, on average, make just $3 per hour. Their American counterparts make $18 per hour. Why would any manufacturer want to produce here in America and pay $18-20 per hour when the same product can be produced right across the border in Mexico for just $3 per hour and then shipped back to the U.S. duty and restriction free?
We had a small trade surplus with Mexico in 1993 before signing onto NAFTA. By 2007, 14 years after signing NAFTA, that surplus turned into a $91 billion deficit with Mexico. The combined deficit with Canada and Mexico together increased to $190 billion – an astounding 691 percent increase.
Illegal immigrants in the U.S. have increased to 12 million today from 3.9 million in 1993, accounting for an overall increase of over 300 percent.
Since NAFTA was implemented, 300,000 American family farms have been put out of business. Overall, net farm incomes are down 13 percent.
Obviously NAFTA has not been very beneficial to the us. In all reality, the trade pact has been an abject failure.
The cruel reality of NAFTA is that it does not benefit the American worker. In fact, it encourages our jobs to leave the country in pursuit of lower wage rates, non-existent environmental standards and trade without restrictions.
The nation’s continued participation in NAFTA results in fewer manufacturing jobs and an influx of foreign produced goods. Our citizens lose good jobs while Mexico reaps the benefits of this trade bloc.
NAFTA Must Be Amended or Eliminated!