An idea to chew apart - Border Industrial Zones

[Mastiff]

Okay. Believe it or not, this idea comes from North Korea of all places. They have an industrial area (Kaesong) near the border where basically the South built manufacturing and use the cheap North labor. For some reason, it works...

So, what if we did the same kind of thing and built industrial areas on the U.S. side of the border and opened it to Mexican labor. Right now the minimum wage for a city across the CA border is about $4.50 a day. Also, the industry on the south side of the border has serious pollution issues... you can use Salton Sea, near Mexicali, as an example. And continuing with the Mexicali example, the bordering town Calexico has lots of raw land, rail, airports, and I-8 is just a stones throw away, but has a relatively small population (27,109). Since Mexicali has around a million people in the metro area, it would boast a significant workforce.

Imagine a large industrial site, where Mexican nationals could cross and work for better wages, working conditions, and some benefits (such as a clinic and daycare, etc.), all provided by the employers for getting cut rate unskilled labor. The benefits to the U.S. could be staggering. First, it would provide skilled labor jobs for U.S. workers as well (Hopefully pulling some manufacturing back from the Asian markets), it would help with the illegal immigration problem by allowing Mexican laborers who want to work access to real jobs, wages would be taxed, and the property taxes to the cities and counties would be big.

So, that's the general idea. Crazy?

[TexanOkie]

It's not necessarily crazy. Exploitative, perhaps. But not much more than what's already existing. How would you handle American workers who want to work at these plants? US minimum wage? That could just breed problems. It probably would strain relations, and it's somewhat against the NAFTA-strain in US-Mexican relations. In El Paso/Juarez, I know for certain, and most likely throughout the borderlands, there are many factories (maquiladoras) with special tariff arrangements which take advantage of Mexican labor rates without the hassle of the cross-border employment situation.

It's an interesting concept, though, to be sure.

[Mastiff]

Originally posted by TexanOkie

It's not necessarily crazy. Exploitative, perhaps. But not much more than what's already existing. How would you handle American workers who want to work at these plants? US minimum wage? That could just breed problems. It probably would strain relations, and it's somewhat against the NAFTA-strain in US-Mexican relations. In El Paso/Juarez, I know for certain, and most likely throughout the borderlands, there are many factories (maquiladoras) with special tariff arrangements which take advantage of Mexican labor rates without the hassle of the cross-border employment situation.

It's an interesting concept, though, to be sure.

No more exploitive that the workers making the stuff we buy at Wal-Mart, right? In fact, the idea is if they are in the U.S., it's subject to OSHA and such... The U.S. workers get what any U.S. worker would get for the job, and I'm quite sure there would be intense negotiations on what the Mexican laborers jobs could or could not be...

[CPSURaf]

This concept is nothing different than the maquidora that are scattered all throughout central and south america. US companies locate in "Free Zones" or tax free zones, build said plant and hire local workers to make everything under the sun. My cousin runs one for Ralph Laruen in El Salavador. They pay really well, have on-site child care and schools and pay "living" wages for that particular area. Jobs are highly sought out, and these factories are highly productive. Don't see where a company could derive a cost savings, especially here in California.

[Mastiff]

Originally posted by CPSURaf

This concept is nothing different than the maquidora that are scattered all throughout central and south america. US companies locate in "Free Zones" or tax free zones, build said plant and hire local workers to make everything under the sun. My cousin runs one for Ralph Laruen in El Salavador. They pay really well, have on-site child care and schools and pay "living" wages for that particular area. Jobs are highly sought out, and these factories are highly productive. Don't see where a company could derive a cost savings, especially here in California.

Aren't there also special tariffs and taxes involved with those? It would be interesting to see it broken down into a cost per unit basis, then try and match it... not saying it'll work, just something to kick around.