‘Made in China’. Contraband, Labour and the Gendered Effects of ‘Free-Trade’, China-Peru

Abstract

In Peru, textiles have increasingly become contested as commodities and objects of consumption, especially following the free trade agreement between Peru and China, signed in 2009, which accommodates increased importation of Chinese textiles. This article discusses how local intermediaries, often women who have found a livelihood working with the importation and vending of textiles, are affected by increased border regulations and competition from over-seas, more formalised forms of importation. Reflecting on enactments of femininities and the social and spatial embeddedness of trade in the border areas, the article discusses the multifaceted and gendered implications of a de-localisation of commodity flows.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the people in Peru who agreed to participate in this research and generously shared their experiences. Much thanks also to Magaly Cardich for her research assistance, and to Norma Fuller for her support. A big thank you to Leif Manger who provided the research grant from the Research Council of Norway to realise this research, as well as the benefit of academic exchange with a generous group of researchers through the ‘Localising globalisation’ project: Thank you all! I am especially grateful for Gracia Clark’s and Linda J. Seligmann’s valuable inputs, and for Anette Fagertun’s great efforts to realize and finalize this special section! Thank you also to Oscar Ugarteche for his inspiring comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank Katharine Wheeler and Nora Haukali for assisting me with the editing, and the reviewers who contributed valuable comments and criticism. The data upon which this article is based can be provided on request to the author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In 2007, the textile industry consisted of 17,518 enterprises: 49 were considered big and medium enterprises, 436 small enterprises, and 17,033 micro-enterprises; the two final categories of enterprises were directed towards the national market (Departamento de Estudios Economicos, 2010).

2. Some of this production has now been moved to China.

3. Reportedly involving around 173,000 workers and 23,000 entrepreneurs.

4. Except for a period between 2009 and 2012, when cotton production fell and prices rose.

5. At this point, the exchange rate was approximately 2825 soles to one US dollar.

6. Iquique has an open port, and is defined as a free trade zone. There is also a free trade zone in Tacna, on the Peruvian side of the border with Chile.

7. For larger purchases, the price differences would be greater.

8. In the shop where he works, for instance, they sold jackets from China that cost only 40 soles. If produced in Peru, these jackets would have cost at least 150 soles, he said.