Giant Sucking Sound
“In the 1992 U.S. presidential election, H. Ross Perot claimed that there would be a "giant sucking sound" as jobs left the United States and went to Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Why and how does free trade help the U.S. economy? How might free trade hurt the U.S. economy? Choose one side of this argument and support your perspective with the theories presented in the course readings and video resource, Trade: Its Trials and Triumphs, using proper APA forma”
I well remember the election of 1992 and Mr. Perot’s “giant sucking sound” comment. I was also, at the time, employed by the largest fully integrated natural gas company in the world. My company was not significantly impacted at all by NAFTA as exploration for natural gas and its eventual delivery to its end users was mostly a U.S. operation and except for gas we were already purchasing from outside of the U.S. We didn’t send jobs to Mexico! However, much later that decade, I went to work for Nissan North America which built a manufacturing plant in Mexico (as did most every other vehicle manufacturer) and yes, models we used to manufacture in the U.S (or Japan) were made in Mexico rather than our U.S. plants.
Was that good for the consumers? Overall, yes it was. These moves allowed Nissan to build the same quality vehicles but at reduced labor costs so, consumers were able to buy products at lower prices than they would have been able to otherwise. It allowed Nissan to stay competitive with our competition plus it freed up capacity at outer plants to build models not produced before. It was also good for the economies of Mexico and the U.S (especially Mississippi and Tennessee where our major U.S. manufacturing plants are located) as it meant new and/or expanded facilities and new jobs. However, some workers in the U.S. did lose jobs; sometimes for a short period and sometimes forever (although in some cases through natural attrition) – certainly for individuals who
I well remember the election of 1992 and Mr. Perot’s “giant sucking sound” comment. I was also, at the time, employed by the largest fully integrated natural gas company in the world. My company was not significantly impacted at all by NAFTA as exploration for natural gas and its eventual delivery to its end users was mostly a U.S. operation and except for gas we were already purchasing from outside of the U.S. We didn’t send jobs to Mexico! However, much later that decade, I went to work for Nissan North America which built a manufacturing plant in Mexico (as did most every other vehicle manufacturer) and yes, models we used to manufacture in the U.S (or Japan) were made in Mexico rather than our U.S. plants.
Was that good for the consumers? Overall, yes it was. These moves allowed Nissan to build the same quality vehicles but at reduced labor costs so, consumers were able to buy products at lower prices than they would have been able to otherwise. It allowed Nissan to stay competitive with our competition plus it freed up capacity at outer plants to build models not produced before. It was also good for the economies of Mexico and the U.S (especially Mississippi and Tennessee where our major U.S. manufacturing plants are located) as it meant new and/or expanded facilities and new jobs. However, some workers in the U.S. did lose jobs; sometimes for a short period and sometimes forever (although in some cases through natural attrition) – certainly for individuals who