1. NAFTA

2. What is NAFTA? North American Free Trade Agreement Participants include U.S., Mexico, and Canada Established in 1994 under the Clinton administration.

3. What is the purpose of NAFTA? The main purpose of NAFTA allows free trade among the 3 participants. Free trade abolishes tariffs. This created problems for Mexico’s agricultural business sector.

4. How? One of the main cultural food staples is tortillas. Tortillas are made from corn!

5. Impacts from NAFTA There is speculation accusing the U.S. of dumping in Mexico. It is cheaper for Mexico to use imported U.S. corn than it is to use domestic Mexican corn.

6. How does this relate? Mexican corn farms do not operate like U.S. corn farms in terms of state of the art farm machines and equipment. Most farming is done by hand.

7. End result The price of tortillas goes up to where they become unaffordable for the majority of the poverty stricken country. Is NAFTA doing what it is supposed to be doing? It doesn’t seem like it.

8. Should NAFTA be reformed? Some argue, the cause of increased immigration is a direct link from NAFTA. Many unemployed Mexican corn farmers have migrated to the U.S. for employment.

9. The big picture The U.S. may have inadvertently caused an increased volume of illegal immigration because of political impacts. NAFTA is a great idea on paper for short term gains with unforeseeable long term impacts that potentially could cost us more than it saves.