What
is a maquila?
Although the word maquila (or maquiladora) has varying definitions, the core
meaning is the same. According to the book Maquila: Assembly Plants in Northern
Mexico (Stoddard 1987), "…the term maquila…refers to the process of production
and assembly operations which utilize their large numbers of semiskilled or
unskilled machine operation or their manual equivalents." In other words, a
maquila is generally a production plant that employs low-wage Mexican workers
to assemble parts of imports from the United States. These products are then
shipped back to the United States, and are taxed only on the value added at
the plant. Maquilas are not just located at the border, however. According to
an article by Sue Greenfield and Harold Dyck of Business Forum, "in the mid-1980s,
the Mexican government extended the area to include the interior of Mexico as
well. It is estimated that 80 percent of the maquilas are still near the border
and that 90 percent are U.S.-owned" (1992). Although it is not known for certain
where the first maquiladora plant opened or which company owned it, it is rumored
that the plant was in Matamoros. Companies that have maquiladora plants include
Levi Strauss and Company, Ford, GM, Nike, Motorola, Kodak, Volkswagen, Nissan,
and Sony.
