Why Amazon really built a new warehouse on the U.S.-Mexico border
The fulfillment center in Tijuana is a symbol of how the pandemic has changed the way the world shops
Omar Martínez
By VITTORIA ELLIOTT and LOUISE MATSAKIS
10 SEPTEMBER 2021
Stark photos of a new Amazon warehouse in Tijuana standing directly beside a dilapidated housing development with dirt roads have gone viral over the last few days. The pictures, taken by photographer Omar Martínez, depict Amazon’s signature arrow logo towering over makeshift homes made out of tarps and scrapwood — to many, a dystopian symbol of modern inequality.
Online commenters soon began speculating about why the e-commerce giant had chosen such a conspicuous site for the warehouse, located less than a half-hour drive from another new Amazon fulfillment center in San Diego. Given Amazon’s penchant for avoiding taxes and its reputation for mistreating workers, some observers suggested that the company might use the facility to ship packages across the border to customers in the U.S., saving on labor costs and avoiding tariffs in the process.
But what the viral image of the Tijuana warehouse actually reveals is just how rapidly international e-commerce is evolving, thanks to the double shock of the U.S.-China trade war and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A policy spokesperson for Amazon told Rest of World that “under no circumstances” are warehouses in Mexico used to deliver goods to shoppers in the U.S. “Our fulfillment center in Tijuana and any others located in Mexico support the fulfillment to our customers in Mexico ONLY – full stop,” they said in an email.
More:
https://restofworld.org/2021/amazon-warehouse-tijuana/
