Faux finds that this promise has not been fulfilled, in part because of what NAFTA does not do:

NAFTA provided no social contract. It offered neither aid for Mexico nor labor, health or environmental standards. The agreement protected corporate investors; everyone else was on his or her own. (Faux 35)

For Mexico in particular, says Faux, NAFTA has been a failure, and the economy still depends too heavily on the remittances sent back into Mexico by immigrants in the United States, both legal and illegal, to support their families.

The economic disparity between the U.S. And Mexico has become a way for some American companies to exploit workers in Mexico by building factories along the border to benefit from lower wages. This helps Mexican workers to a degree, though it does not do so in a way that raises the standard of living in that country or that keeps many...
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