THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409030036
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
A few weeks ago, ``Saturday Night Live'' reran a program from late last year that contained a skit showing a stereotypical Mexican smashing a baseball bat against a pinada labeled NAFTA. All the goodies falling out were supposed to represent American jobs heading south to Mexico.
The skit was fairly representative of the kind of hysteria that surrounded ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement last year. H. Ross Perot published a book, Save Your Job, Save Your Country, which warned of dire consequences for American industry if the agreement was passed. Unions pledged eternal enmity toward any politician who dared back the agreement.
NAFTA passed anyway (thanks mostly to House Republicans under the leadership of Republican Whip Newt Gingrich). Nearly 10 months after Congress ratified the agreement, NAFTA has dropped out of public sight almost completely. What has been happening?
Plenty, according to the latest data, and almost all of it is good news for the American economy. According to the latest Commerce Department figures, U.S. exports to Mexico surged 16.4 percent in the first six months of this year. In fact, Mexico has just surpassed Japan as the second largest consumer of American-made goods. At the same time, Mexican exports to the United States are up 21 percent.
The auto industry and labor unions, which feared NAFTA most of all, seemingly have little to complain about. The Big Three have sold 24,000 cars and trucks in Mexico so far this year, compared with just 4,000 for all of last year. In Virginia, the Petersburg-based Brenco Corp. has landed a $1 million contract for railrod bearings. The Virginia Port Authority has crafted a shipping agreement between Hampton Roads and Veracruz. Lynchburg-based Ericsson has signed a $1 million telecommunications contract.
Mexico, which in the mid-1980s looked like the next candidate for a major convulsion or revolution, now looks set on a course of stable growth within a democratic framework. The presidential election earlier this month was widely reported as the cleanest and fairest that Mexico has probably ever seen.
Freer trade means more jobs for Mexicans and Americans alike. More trade is especially important for a major seaport such as Norfolk, which will be handling much of the freight. So far, the verdict on NAFTA is a very definite si. by CNB