Apertura comercial y reforma institucional en Mexico (1988-2000): un analisis comparado del TLCAN y el TLCUE

In: Foro internacional: revista trimestral, Volume 41, Issue 4, p. 731-760

Abstract

The main foreign policy priority for the Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) & Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon (1994-2000) administrations was the negotiation & implementation of two free trade agreements: the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) & the European Union-Mexico Free Trade agreement (EU-MFTA), respectively. This article explains how & why each one of these administrations faced delegating functions -- from the Executive to its agencies -- & generated a bureaucratic apparatus capable of negotiating & implementing these agreements within a 6-year presidential term, ie, a team able to maintain each president's view & interests regarding said agreements. The Zedillo administration continued the policy established by Salinas: The power to negotiate trade agreements is delegated to the Ministry of Commerce & Industrial Development, & the Ministry of Foreign Relations retains its role in political negotiations with Europe. This is because of the manner in which agency problems had to be resolved, given the preferences of the main actors. To negotiate & conclude these agreements, the Salinas & Zedillo administrations had to develop a new strategy within their foreign economic policies to approach the countries involved & generate a cooperative environment where shared interests could be emphasized. 55 References. Adapted from the source document.