Maquiladoras and National Security: Design Theory as a Guide

The Mexican maquiladora industry is rapidly losing market share to Asian competitors that dramatically undercut them in terms of labor costs. The decline of these assembly-for-export factories will result in instability along the U.S.-Mexico border and will prove to be a serious national security is...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rapiey, Stanley J
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
AGREEMENTS
ASIA
ASSEMBLY
ASSEMBLY-FOR-EXPORT FACTORIES
BORDER SECURITY
COMPETITION
CUSTOMS
DESIGN THEORY
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Economics and Cost Analysis
EXPORTS
Government and Political Science
GOVERNMENT(FOREIGN)
HISTORY
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INSTABILITY
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
MANUFACTURING
MAQUILADORA CLOSINGS
MAQUILADORA INDUSTRY
MEXICO
Mfg & Industrial Eng & Control of Product Sys
MOTIVATION
NAFTA(NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT)
NATIONAL SECURITY
PLANT CLOSINGS
POLICIES
TRADE POLICIES
UNEMPLOYMENT
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
VIABILITY
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Summary:The Mexican maquiladora industry is rapidly losing market share to Asian competitors that dramatically undercut them in terms of labor costs. The decline of these assembly-for-export factories will result in instability along the U.S.-Mexico border and will prove to be a serious national security issue for the United States. This paper leverages Design Theory to frame the problems surrounding Mexico's maquiladora industry to develop an understanding of this complex adaptive system. It examines the wide range of actors involved in the system, focusing on their goals, motivations, and conflicting tendencies. Finally, the paper recommends courses of action for U.S. and Mexican leaders that will mitigate the resulting instability in the Mexican northern border states.