The Impact of Coronavirus on US-Mexico Trade In Juárez:

Update:  200 of 326 Maquila Plants in Juárez Affected by Supply Chain Interruptions

and Closures of  US Auto Manufacturing Plants

No Job Layoffs Yet, According to Maquila Association Index Juárez

A story written by Iris González in Diario today (click here) updates juarenses on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the maquila industry in Juárez, which employs over 300,000 workers.  Index Nacional (click here for information used in Diario Story), an association of maquila plants throughout Mexico, reports that 11 maquila plants have suffered from delays from supply providers in China.  Pedro Chavira, President of Index Juárez, is quoted in the article, that "until now the industrial sector (in Juárez) has not planned to lay off workers, although this might happen should automobile-parts plant closures take place here to to contain coronavirus, as has happened in the US"  (descarta que“hasta el momento el sector industrial contemple despido de personal, aunque sí podría replicarse en la localidad el cierre de plantas para contener el coronavirus como las armadoras lo hicieron en el vecino país”).

Note:  the carefully chosen words of Chavira suggest the maquila industry is hoping to reassure maquila workers in Juárez they still have their jobs, but the coronavirus pandemic might cause authorities or plant managers to lay off workers in Juárez in the future, as has happened in the US.

 Iris González goes on to calculate from Index Nacional data that so far the pandemic has mostly affected maquila plants in the electronic and auto industries, which together account for 200 of the 326 maquila plants in Juárez.  She points out that while Juárez does not have any auto assembly plants, Juárez maquilas do feed the industry with products such as brake linings and other mechanical products, and other parts of the industrial sector such as televisions, refrigerators, computers, and cell phones.

The economic as well as local health stakes of the pandemic are enormous for the people of Juárez.  We are not just talking about global trade here.  We are talking about the welfare of 1.3 million people who live within 60 miles of Las Cruces, New Mexico and a few hundred yards from El Paso, whose astounding growth has been driven in great part by what has been happening in the past three decades in its twin city just across the river.