art. The other agreement created the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank to address pollution problems along the U.S.-Mexican border. By mid-1996, the development bank had an $80-million budget and was considering loans to border communities for eight projects designed to reduce water pollution, according to a paper by University of Illinois' Gerald Nelson. Mexico has closed down 72 maquiladoras and suspended operations of 219 others for environmental problems, he said. Tomatoes, trucks and broomsNAFTA critics and advocates alike say special interests have found ways to protect themselves from competition, and several disputes have resulted. Since 1994, seven cases have come under NAFTAs dispute resolution process, though only one a U.S.-Canada dispute over tariff rate quotas on dairy, poultry, barley and margarine has been resolved. Cases included a U.S. complaint over deliveries of small packages to Mexico, Canada and Mexicos complaints about the U.S. Helms-Burton Act (which imposes economic sanctions against Cuba) and the pending fight over straw brooms. NAFTA also has a provision for antidumping and counter-vailing duties disputes. That process has helped resolve 12 cases, with five more pending. Several U.S.-Mexico trade disputes stand out. Last December, Mexicos Trade Secretariat raised import tariffs on nine U.S. products including wine, whiskey and corn syrup in response to a U.S. tariff increase on Mexican straw brooms. The United States argued that it needed the three-year safeguard tariffs to allow U.S. broommakers time to adjust to competition from Mexico. Imports from Mexico, as well as Hungary and several other Latin American countries, took almost 60 percent of the U.S. market last year. Both sides say their actions are allowed under NAFTA, one to protect an endangered domestic industry, the other to retaliate when another NAFTA member imposes a unilateral safeguard. In mi...
