Such an assertion is without any foundation. The recession drastically reduced Mexican domestic demand, making more of its domestic output available for export while simultaneously reducing demand for U.S. imports. Given these conditions, it is no wonder that U.S. imports to Mexico declined while Mexican exports to the United States increased. The best estimate of displaced workers that can be traced to imports from Mexico and Canada is approximately 120,000. Whatever the cause, there is no question that to each one of these workers, any job loss is a major job loss.
Many economists now consider the U.S. to be at or very near full employment.
One thing is clear however. In its first full year of operation, Mexico-U.S. trade topped 100 billion dollars, up from 80 billion in 1993. These numbers are significant. Growth in two-way trade represents increased specialization which results in maximum utilization of each country's resources. And maximum utilization of resources leads to greater competitiveness.