Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990 TAG: 9006100065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Bush and Salinas will meet tonight, laying the groundwork for a formal announcement of their decision by the White House on Monday.
Completion of a free trade agreement could take years but, if successful, it would bring all of North America - 335 million people - into a single market free of tariffs and most non-tariff barriers. Mexico would join the free trade zone established between the United States and Canada two years ago.
The officials, asking not to be identified, said preparatory discussions among experts from the two sides will begin shortly, with an eye toward getting formal negotiations under way by the time of the next Bush-Salinas meeting in December.
The two presidents will dine at the White House tonight without aides. Secretary of State James A. Baker III will meet with Salinas on Monday morning.
Salinas, who will address a gathering of business executives Monday evening, is making his visit at a time of unusual harmony in Mexican-American relations.
During the 1980s, disagreements over Central America produced deep cross-border hostility.
The only significant setback recently was the U.S.-orchestrated kidnapping in April of a Mexican doctor wanted in the 1985 killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Mexico.
Administration officials have consistently praised Salinas for what they regard as his courage in confronting Mexico's acute drug-smuggling problem and in attempting to reverse eight years of economic decline.
In recent years, Mexico has moved decisively to modernize its economy, selling off hundreds of resource-draining state enterprises and joining the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The latter move has led to significant trade liberalization.
Two-way U.S.-Mexican trade totals about $52 billion, but experts consider this figure to be far below the potential.
Salinas, who took office in December 1988, initially was cool to the idea of a free trade pact but since has become a strong proponent.
After the Mexican Senate gave Salinas the green light last month to seek an FTA with the United States, he said, "Mexico will not be left out of the new world configuration. The speed of the changes requires decisive answers on all fronts, in all markets."
An FTA would be a boon to many U.S. exporters. If it also substantially liberalized U.S. investment opportunities in Mexico, the result would be far more business activity, from which both countries would benefit, the officials said.
by CNB