ABSTRACT
When originated in 1965, the maquiladora program was intended to provide work for Mexicans in Mexican border regions. It replaced the Bracero program that provided seasonal farm work in the United States for Mexican migrant labor. But even by the early 1980s when the maquiladora sector was in its rapid expansion phase, it was clear that the maquiladoras had already become an important part of American competitive strategy. As branch assembly plants in Mexico, the maquiladoras provided cheap labor as a way for their parent US firms to remain profitable in the face of increasing global competition, particularly from a variety of manufacturers in the Pacific Rim nations and from apparel manufacturers in Turkey.
