The North American Free Trade Agreement: A Mexican Perspective

Abstract

Only a few years ago, a proponent of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Mexico and the United States would have faced harsh criticism in Mexico, and indifference in the U.S.1 In Mexico, for decades the idea of explicitly promoting increased commercial ties with the United States, and taking part in a bargaining process with the "imperial power" to the North, was blatantly rejected in most political and academic circles. The U.S. administrations, acknowledging Mexico's feelings of distrust, probably did not consider an FTA between the two countries to be possible. Nor did the United States consider one to be desirable. Multilateralism was the prevalent trade strategy in the United States during the post-World War II period. Bilateral initiatives tended to be viewed as a diversion of institutional energies, and as counterproductive to the overall strategy.