Council Votes to Back Saving <i> Maquiladoras</i>
Hoping to thwart an attempt by Congress to eliminate the thriving maquiladora program, the San Diego City Council on Tuesday joined other border cities by going on record in support of the border manufacturing plants.
The council resolution, which also opposed the elimination of laws that provide a basis for the maquiladora program, is part of an effort by cities along the U.S.-Mexican border to lobby Congress to preserve the plants.
There are about 800 of the factories, also called twin plants, along the border--200 of them between Tijuana and Tecate. Thirty more are under construction in the San Diego border region. The plants, which use low-cost Mexican labor to partially assemble goods and which take advantage of a specially created tax status on goods shipped to plants on the U.S. side, are owned by U.S. and foreign companies.
A city manager’s report, provided as background to the City Council, cited these benefits of maquiladoras :
- U.S. companies profit by the comparatively low Mexican wages. The factories encourage economic development in Mexico, thus discouraging illegal immigration.
- The factories enable the Mexican government to lessen its international debt obligation, the major portion of which is carried by the United States.
- They contribute to the regional economy.
Tuesday’s unanimous council vote in favor of the plants came after similar actions by the county Board of Supervisors, the San Diego Unified Port District and the county’s International Trade Commission.
In giving a nod to the concerns of one spokesman opposed to the maquiladoras, the City Council required the city’s Office of Binational Affairs to report back in 30 to 60 days on the feasibility of requiring U.S. companies in the maquiladora program to abide by U.S. laws.
Speaking against the maquiladoras, Howard Greenebaum told the City Council that the maquiladoras were “backfiring our national interest.”
Greenebaum, who described himself as an environmentalist, said that some U.S. companies favor maquiladoras to escape U.S. wage, environmental and safety laws. Besides polluting foreign countries and injuring foreign workers, Greenebaum alleged that the maquiladoras are “an excuse to exploit another country’s poor.”
Hourly wages at the Mexican plants average less than $1.
Greenebaum said maquiladoras are not the solution to the country’s balance of trade problem. Instead, he said, the United States should restrict imports, thus forcing foreign businesses “to depend less on our domestic market and become sensitive to the needs of their own citizens. They will be motivated to build their own domestic market, thereby raising their standard of living and creating a future market for U.S. exports.”
The council action was part of a concerted effort by border cities to lobby Congress. At a meeting in El Paso, Tex., in December, maquiladora companies and city representatives discussed the twin plants and the climate in Congress. According to the city manager’s report, supporters of the plants fear that the new Congress may attempt to pass legislation eliminating maquiladoras.
According to the city’s director of binational affairs, maquiladora lobbyists will descend on Washington on March 9-10 in an attempt to dissuade lawmakers from eliminating the maquiladora laws.
