sence in the textile industry by taking advantage of the reduced barriers to trade that CAFTA involves. CAFTA did not have nearly the level of support in the United States that NAFTA had more than 10 years earlier, and the long-term effects cannot be known, yet. However, Mexico is likely to face downward pressure on its labor costs in many industries·including textiles·where other countries in the region may perceive an opportunity to increase their own trade activities (Clark, 2005).
Mexico is a major producer of fibers and textiles, and of the cutting and assembling of textiles into garments. The United States exports a significant amount of fibers to Mexico to be used in the garment-making process. Until trade quotas were eliminated, much of the textile trade between the two countries consisted of mutual exports and imports. Factories in the United States spun cotton into thread or produced polyester fibers; the fibers and thread were exported to Mexico, where they were made into fab
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