Of course, there were a series of trade negotiation rounds before NAFTA that lowered or eliminated tariffs on many goods, putting US workers in competition with the world's cheapest labor, as well as making it very profitable for large US corporations to move production to cheap labor nations and export to the US market.
NAFTA was not the first trade arrangement to benefit Mexico and cause the relocation of US plants to take advantage of cheap labar.
In 1964, the Bracero Program, which allowed Mexican agricultural workers to work legally in the U.S. on a seasonal basis, came to an end. Less than a year after the end of the Bracero Program, the Mexican Government launched the Border Industrialization Program (BIP) or the Maquiladora Program, to solve the problem of rising unemployment along the border.[2] The maquiladoras became attractive to US firms due to the availability of cheap labor, devaluations of the peso and favorable changes in US customs laws.[citation needed] In 1985, maquiladoras overtook tourism as the largest source of foreign exchange, and since 1996 they have been the second largest industry in Mexico behind the petroleum industry.[3]
Who can remember when televisions and radios and tape recorders, the electronics of the '50s and '60s were all made in the USA? Then we had a few changes of tariffs and trade policies, and suddenly, they were most all made in Japan.
All the losses of manufacturing jobs and relocation of US production to cheap labor nations was caused by changes in US government policies.
My first radio of my own was a new GE transistor radio. Cost $5.99 in the early 60s and used 2 AA batteries. Worked great for years. It probably would have lasted a lot longer but with me being a kid it got dropped a lot, things spilled on it and in it.
A few years later my dad bought me a great AM-FM-SW radio, also made by GE. It was bad for the day (at least to me!) Used 6 D-cell batteries and had a 6-foot antenna. Also had an AC power cord. Loved it.