maquiladora
Noun
Meaning
an assembly plant in Mexico (near the United States border); parts are shipped into Mexico and the finished product is shipped back across the border
Source: WordNetAntonyms
Hypernyms
Examples
A maquiladora manufacturer operates by importing raw materials into Mexico either tariff free (NAFTA) or at a reduced rate on a temporary basis (18 months) and then using Mexico's relatively less expensive labor costs to produce finished goods for export.
The industrial sector has shifted since 1993 from a primarily domestic orientation to include free zone ( maquiladora ) manufacturing for export.
Hufbauer's (2005) book shows that income in the maquiladora sector has increased 15.5% since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994.
NAFTA has eliminated all tariffs on goods between the two countries, but for the maquiladora industry significantly increased the tariff rates for goods sourced outside of NAFTA.
The Honduran maquiladora sector, the third-largest in the world, continued its strong performance in 2000, providing employment to over 120,000 and generating more than $528 million in foreign exchange for the country.
The solutions relied on in the past—traditional export crops, the maquiladora assembly industry, and 1980s' development schemes—appear unlikely to provide enough new jobs for a rapidly growing population.