Suppose the United States must give up the production of 1 gallon of paint to produce one pair of shoes. Mexico must give up 2 gallons of paint to produce one pair of shoes. According to the principle of comparative advantage

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According to the principle of comparative advantage, each country should specialize in producing the good in which it has a lower opportunity cost (the cost of producing one unit of a good in terms of the production of another good forgone). In this case, Mexico has a lower opportunity cost in producing paint (2 gallons for one pair of shoes) compared to the United States (1 gallon for one pair of shoes). Therefore, Mexico should specialize in producing paint, and the United States should specialize in producing shoes. This will result in both countries producing more total output and trading with each other to obtain the goods they don't specialize in.

Suppose the United States Must Give Up the Production of 1