country of origin where they may be further processed. The maquiladora program permits the inputs and the machinery to process them to enter Mexico tariff-free. When the goods return to the country of origin, shippers pay duties only on the value added by manufacture in Mexico.
NAFTA, says Gruben (2001) did not create the maquiladoras in Mexico. These plants had been in existence since the 1960s. However, with the passage of NAFTA, the output and employment growth of the maquiladoras began to accelerate markedly. Over the first six years after the onset of NAFTA, maquiladora employment grew 110 percent as compared with 78 percent over the previous six years. The acceleration of foreign direct investment under NAFTA has contributed to the creation of more than one-half million new jobs in
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