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World Trade Blocs Compared Unique Comparison

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    Emerging World Trade Blocs: The North American

    Free Trade Area and the European Union

    Compared By

    Olga M. Lazin, UCLA

    STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

    Let us compare for the early 1990s:

    (a) the 15 countries comprised in the European Union (data for which hereinclude three countries that are to join in January 1995),

    (b) the six Eastern European countries likely to join the European Union in

    the long term under the Europe Agreement,(1)

    (c) the EU constituencies; 27 countries to date

    (d) EU and NAFTA countries compared,

    (d) major world trading blocs, especially Mercosur which is being courtedby both NAFTA and EU, and

    (f) the NAFTA schedule for managing the opening of duty-free trade by

    item for each of the three countries.

    Data on the major trade blocs are included in order to show the context in

    which NAFTA and EU discuss expansion. The Europe Agreement to unite

    the continent east and west was signed on October 5, 1992, at Luxembourg;

    and the EU's negotiations to develop a special relationship with Mercosur

    have acquired importance by mid-1994 as Mercosur debates how closely to

    try to relate to NAFTA.

    Comparison is presented in five tables. Tables 1, 2, and 3 cover population,

    GNP, GNP/C, and export share in GNP for the EU, Eastern Europe, and

    NAFTA. Table 4 covers the same data for major trade blocs. Table 5 shows

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    the relative importance of the major trade blocs, using the USA as reference

    point. Table 6 presents the current situation of economic blocs as through

    statistics for six countries, Japan standing as its own economic bloc.

    Table 1 allows us to examine the ranges in country size for population.

    Reunited Germany has the largest population, 81 million. Italy and the U.K.

    follow as the second and third largest countries, virtually tied at 58 million

    persons. Germany's population is 207 times larger than the smallest

    country--Luxembourg has only 389,000 persons. In terms of GNP, Germany

    is 134 higher than that of Luxembourg

    Given such disparities in size, is it "fair" that the EU member countries have

    disproportionate voting rights which are weighted in favor of small

    countries? (For shares of voting rights, see Appendix A.) One good

    argument for such weighting is that Luxembourg has the highest GNP/C of

    EU's (US$ 35,260) and the highest export share in GNP (94%). Spain has a

    larger population (39 million) but has EU's lowest export share in GNP

    (17%). Such complexities explain why weighted voting rights are not as

    arbitrary as first glance might have us believe. In any case big countries have

    enough votes that it takes the votes of many small countries to reach the

    present blocking minority of 23 votes, a total which once the EU reaches 15

    countries will be 26 votes. (2)

    Table 2 shows ranges in size for the six countries of Eastern Europe seekingto join the EU. Poland has the highest GNP (US$ 75 billion), much higher

    than that of EU member Ireland (US$ 42 billion). Unfortunately Poland is

    weak in exports, which amount to 19% of its GNP. Hungary's advantage is

    due to its earlier leadership among the former communist countries in

    carrying out economic reform, its GNP/C being 54% higher than that of

    Poland.

    The relationship of Poland to "smaller" countries is interesting. Although

    Poland has 4 times the population of Bulgaria's 9 million, Poland has thelowest export share of GNP. Bulgaria has the second largest export share in

    GNP (45), after the Czech Republic, which leads both in export share in

    GNP (58) and also in GNP/C (US$ 2,440) as compared to the rest of the

    Eastern European countries.

    With regard to the two poorest countries seeking to join the EU, the poor

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    economic performance of Romania is noteworthy. The Romanian GNP is

    hardly double that of the Slovak Republic (US$ 10 billion), yet the two

    countries are equal in GNP export share (28%). Romania's trade with

    Eastern Europe collapsed in 1991 along with the COMECON trading

    organization. Subsequent growth in trade with the West has been slow, andcurrent-account deficits of more than US$ billion have been recorded in each

    of the last four years. In terms of population, Romania is 4 times larger than

    that of the Slovak Republic (5.3 million). The legacy of a high-inflation

    environment and modest growth accounts for the Romanian currency's very

    small purchasing power. Despite all theses shortcomings Romania became a

    full member of EU in ten years, that is December 1st, 2007.

    The Slovak Republic with its small population and economy calls our

    attention. How can it hope to compete in an expended EU? Although its

    population is only 5 million and its GNP is only US$ 10 billion, Slovakia

    has a relatively high level of export in GNP, 60% higher than the larger

    Romania.

    Given the above disparities, interests within the EU have been divided into

    five "constituencies." (3) (See Chart 1.) The "Core" constituency is France

    and Germany (which founded in 1951 the European Coal and Steel

    Community to rebuild war-torn Western Europe). To this core are appended

    Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, too close geographically and too small

    economically to avoid being drawn into the orbit of power.

    The second EU constituency is made of the "free traders" Britain and

    Denmark (both of which joined the EU in the early 1970s). Britain leads the

    way to open a common market of goods, services, capital, and people while

    at the same time trying to prevent the rise in Europe of any singly powerful

    country.

    The EU third constituency involves the poorer, newly democratic members

    admitted in 1980s (Greece, 1981; Portugal and Spain, 1986), each seeking tomodernize their economies in order to guarantee against a resurgence of any

    authoritarian rule. This expansion widened the gap between richer and

    poorer countries, the latter including Ireland and to some extent Italy.

    The fourth constituency involves Eastern Europe, which freed itself from

    Russian rule after 1989. It sees admission to the EU, proposed for the year

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    2000 by Germany, as guarantee against the resurgence of Russian authority

    in the region.

    The fifth EU constituency involves the European Free Trade Association

    (Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden), which has realized, except for Norway,

    that it must not be left out of the EU as it expands to include even Eastern

    Europe. Indeed Austria may move directly into the Core.

    Given the divergent interests of these five constituencies, two models offer

    future direction to solve the problem of disunity within unity. The British

    model, which seeks to give more or less equal weight to, the concentric

    circles depicted in Chart 1, thus encourage cooperative diversity; and the

    German-French model, which seeks to move forward with monetary union

    and unified foreign policy focused on the center circle in Chart 1. The idea

    that Britain may resist France and Germany by refusing to join the EU

    monetary union has prompted The Economist to write:

    If Britain stays out, only to change its mind later {as it did about the EU], it

    leaders may seem as silly as Churchill now seems, for this comment on the

    founding of the European Coal and Steel Community 43 years ago: 'I love

    France and Belgium but we must not allow ourselves to be pulled down to

    that level." (4)

    Turning now to a comparison of the EU and NAFTA, several factorsemerge. The population of the two trade blocks is about the same (363.3

    million for NAFTA, 345.0 million for the 12 EU countries, and 368.8 for the

    15 countries in 1992). With regard to economic differences, Germany

    emerges as having the biggest sheer economic power, followed by France

    and Italy within the EU.

    Noticeable is that the USA has the highest GNP among all countries (US$

    5.9 trillion) and the highest GNP/C within NAFTA (US$ 23,120).

    Comparing the countries with lowest export share of GNP in each unit,

    NAFTA's Mexico with only 14% has much less than the EU's Greece, which

    stands at 23%. Romania and the Slovak Republic have twice Mexico's

    export share in GNP.

    With regard to the power of population and GNP, the index in Table 5 is

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    based on the fact that the most important country is the USA, which equals

    100. while Mexico has one-third of the U.S. population, but only 5% of

    GNP.

    Table 5 shows why Japan is often seen as the economic "enemy" of both

    NAFTA and the EU, its power being concentrated in one county which has

    established a web of trade dependency worldwide. Its GNP/C is 21% higher

    than that of the USA.

    Japan's accumulation of world trade capital is one of the reasons why so

    many other countries are trying to compete globally by implicitly forming

    trade blocks. NAFTA gives the USA, Canada and Mexico the possibility of

    expanding international and international trade at Japan's expense.

    The USA dwarfs most of the Western hemisphere in terms of GNP, exceptfor Canada, which reaches 84.3% of the U.S. total. (See Table 5.) Although

    the European Union is 48% larger in population than the USA, its GNP/C is

    only 89% of the U.S. amount.

    In establishing itself as FTA linchpin in the Americas, (5) Mexico has done

    so in spite of the fact that it has only one-third of the U.S. population, 5% of

    the U.S. GNP, and 15.3% of the U.S. GNP/C at the same time, however the

    NAFTA framework enhances Mexico's tremendously as U.S. business

    investment has arrived with new impetus beginning in 1994, especially afterthe national "defeat" of the Chiapas rebels in August at ballot boxes almost

    everywhere in Mexico.

    In relation to the USA, Mexico's GNP/C exceeds by 3.5% that of Mercosur's

    12.8% share of the USA's GNP/C, while Germany, with about the same

    population as Mexico, has 96% of U.S. GNP/C, raising the average for the

    EU to 80% of the same figure.

    To further this comparison, let us note the fact that since 1994 the New YorkTimes (NYT) is carrying a regular comparison of the NAFTA-EU-Japan

    economic situation for competition (See Table 6.) To represent the EU, the

    NYT gives Britain and Germany; to represent NAFTA, it gives all three

    partners; to represent global competition, it gives Japan.

    The bottom line for global competition is shown in the 1993 manufacturing

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    wage gap given in Table 7. With five leading countries of Western Europe

    trying to compete under a burden of hourly scale averaging nearly US$ 21,

    Japan and the United States nearly tied in the US$ 16 hourly range, and the

    Asian "tigers" (Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong) averaging

    about US$ 5 hourly, two facts are clear. Mexico with its US$ 2.41 hourlymanufacturing average is the attractive partner wherein factories can be

    established in the Western Hemisphere. Eastern Europe with its US$ .90 is

    the equivalent area of the future for the European Union.

    Although Germany is moving important manufacturing funds into Romania,

    for example, the EU has yet to formally bring Eastern Europe into a formal

    relationship like that enjoyed by Mexico with NAFTA. Eastern Europe as a

    whole (except for the Czech Republic) awaits the opening of it economies,

    which remain largely non-market as is shown in Appendix B.

    The NAFTA model for opening its three countries over 15 years provides a

    much easier process than that faced by Eastern Europe of having to integrate

    into the EU on a complete basis and mostly all at once. The effect of

    NAFTA integration on Mexico, the USA and Canada is shown in Table 8,

    which divides the process into the following time frames for elimination of

    tariffs: immediately as of January 1, 1994, and within 5, 10 years, and 15

    years.

    With regard to immediate action by Mexico, it eliminated duties on all U.S.and Canadian products not made in Mexico, that is on 43 percent of its

    purchases in those two countries. Although most of Mexicos purchases

    seemingly come from the USA (63.4 percent in 1992) and little from Canada

    (1.0 percent), the reality is that much of the Canada-Mexico trade is lost

    statistically when it passes through the USA where it becomes incorporated

    into U.S. trade data.

    The USA took immediate action to eliminate duties on nearly 50 percent of

    Mexican imports and Canada 19 percent of Mexican imports. Canadasactions involved a complete opening to Mexican textiles (including thread,

    cloth, and clothing), which in 1992 reached about 17 million dollars in

    value. (Mexican textile exports to the USA were 56 times greater.)

    CONCLUSION and Positive Outcomes, as well as updates on

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    NAFTA

    NAFTA and the EU differ greatly in three major ways. The EU goes beyond

    NAFTA's trading plan to include free movement of citizens as workers and

    students; and EU seeks eventual unification of such potentially controversialareas as currency, foreign policy, and military coordination.

    The second difference is that NAFTA has the trading edge to expand beyond

    Mexico into Latin America. Not only do the USA and Mexico have large

    trade experience with the region that dwarfs that of the EU, but Mexico has

    made the many agreements that at once make expanded trade possible as

    well as require it to make multilateral sense of its many bilateral agreements.

    Canada has far to go in developing trade beyond the USA, and both

    countries face stiff competition from Japan. Under Mexico's leadership inbringing about the integration of the Americas, however, NAFTA seems

    well positioned to compete with the EU as it takes its first serious steps to

    develop relations with Mercosur.

    The third major difference is that the "core" for NAFTA is the USA, for EU

    it is two countries. With Mitterrands term coming to an end in France and

    Jacque Delors not only retiring as the unifying head of the European

    Commission but declining to be the front-runner to replace Mitterrand as

    president of France, the question is whether or not Germany can count on

    either a dynamic concept of the EU or France as traditional ally as it seeks

    ever greater EU unity on all fronts.

    Sumario de provisiones delTratado de Libre Comercio de America del Norte

    (TLC) y la UninEuropea (UE)

    TLC UE

    MetasUn mercado de comercio

    de bienes

    Criterios transnacionalespara

    crear, paso a paso, una unin

    poltica, econmicay depoblacin.

    Actividad Cada miembro

    establecesu propia

    politico externa sujeta a

    negociaciones.

    El Consejo de Ministros(el

    principal rgano de toma de

    decisiones con representacinde

    todos los paises) toma

    7

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    decisiones aplicable.s a todos

    los miembros.

    MonedaCada miembro tienesu

    propia moneda.

    Los miembros han establecido

    una unidad monetaria comn (el

    ECU) pero coda pasmantienean su propia moneda. Bajo el

    Tratado de MaastricL,

    seprogram que el ECU se

    volvlera la nica unidad

    moneuriapara 1999

    Aranceles

    Cada paLconserve sus

    propias regulaciones

    arancelaria.

    Los miembros se unieron en un

    slo mercado a partir del 1 de

    enero de 1993. Capital,bienes y

    servicios circulan entre los

    paises de la UE. Existe el

    compromiso para abolir los

    controles de migracin interna,

    pero algunospaises han

    pospuesto su cumplimiento.

    Transporte

    Autoriza a camionesy

    cargueros comunes para

    circular entre paises. (Eltrfico camioneroen

    cruzar la frontera

    mexicana libremente para

    1999.)

    Se estableciuna poltica comn

    para un bloque sin fronteras y la

    apertureto total de las rutas detransporte, excepto el trfico

    camionero,que est prohibido

    Los Alpes suizos y austracos.

    EmpleoLos trabajadoresno estn

    incluidos.

    Los trabajadorespueden

    moverse libremente entre los

    paises miembros.

    MigracinyCiU

    adana

    Slo

    profesionistas,persona denegocios e inversionistas

    aenen el derecho de

    trabajar en losestados

    miembros.

    Los ciudadanos delos paises de

    la UE tienen garantizada lalibertad de movimiento y

    residencia.Los ciudadanos votan

    par el Parlamento Europeo en su

    lugar de residenciasin importer

    su ciudadana. Estn siendo

    8

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    introducidos pasaportesde color

    tinto en to da la UE.

    Acuerdos de

    comerciocon otros

    pases nomlembros

    No cubiertos.

    Los acuerdos de comercio son

    firmados par la Unin, no porpases individuales.

    Polticaexterna No cubierta.

    Los miembros

    estncomprometidos con una

    poltica externa comn, pero

    pocuspaises buscan en realidad

    su cabal cumplimiento.

    Inflaciny

    administrac inmacroeconmica No incluidas.

    Los pulses miembrosdeben

    adherirse a los lmites mximos.

    Competencia y

    calldadNo cubiertas.

    Los miembros

    acordaronestablecer estrategias

    comunes para hacer a todos Los

    pases igualmentecompetitivos.

    Las normac de calidad.son

    mnimac.

    Proteccinal

    consumidor No cubierta.

    Los miembros seadhieren a

    regulaciones estndar que estnsiendo establecidas.

    Politica social No cobierta.

    Se aplican criteriosestndar a

    todos los paises (por ejemplo, la

    seguridad social).

    Legislacion deimpuestos

    Cubre sloel Tratado deDoble Impuesto.

    Establece una pauta estndar

    para todos los miembros. Se

    otorgan privilegios

    especialespara ayudar en las

    area econmicamente

    necesitadas tale. como Espaay

    Portugal. Finlandia y Austria se

    beneficiarn al volverse

    miembros.

    Medio ambiente Los participantesestn Los miembros hanestablecido

    9

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    estableciendo estndares

    comunes en Los tratados

    Iaterales

    una poltica externa de

    estndares y medidas.

    Salud No cubierta.

    Los miembroshan establecido

    un programa comn

    Educacin

    Aunque el TLC esuna

    unin economica, ha

    surgido un acuerdo

    lateral, pero no al

    mismonivel que para el

    programa ERASMUS.

    Establece programasde

    intercambio para estudiante de

    educacin superior y

    profesoresunlversitarios. El

    programa ERASMUS apoya a

    los estudiantes que

    estudienhaste un afio en otro

    pais de la UE.

    Defensa No cobierta.

    Los miembros buscandesarrollar

    una poltica comn de

    seguridad. Se ha establecidoun

    sistema militar comn, pero

    coda pais conserve su propia

    milicia.

    1. Indicadores de poblacion, produccion y exportacionesde Union

    Europea 1

    Pais Poblacion

    (

    m

    i

    l

    es

    )

    Producto interno

    bruto(m

    illones

    de

    dolares)

    Produtcto

    int

    ern

    o

    bru

    toper

    cap

    ita

    (do

    lar

    Proporcion del

    product

    o

    interno

    bruto

    dedicadoa la

    exporta

    cion

    10

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    es)

    Alemania2 80,553 1,846,064 23,030 24

    Austria 7,906 174,767 22,110 41

    Belgica 10,039 209,594 20,880 73Dinamarca 5,166 133,941 25,930 37

    Espana 39,077 547,947 14,020 17

    Finlandia 5,062 116,309 22,980 22

    Francia 57,338 1,278,652 22,300 23

    Grecia 10,454 75,106 7,180 23

    Irlanda 3,536 42,798 12,100 62

    Italia 57,844 1,186,568 20,510 20

    Luxembourgo 389 13,716 35,260 94

    Paises Bajos 15,167 312,340 20,590 54

    Portugal 9,843 73,336 7,450 35

    Reino Unido 57,701 1,024,769 17,760 24

    Suecia 8,707 233,209 26,780 28

    15 paises 368,782 7,269,116 19,6583 27c

    12 paises 347,107 6,978,040 20,1034 25c

    1. Indicadores de poblacion, produccion y exportacionesde Europa

    Oriental

    Pais Poblacion

    (

    m

    i

    le

    s

    )

    Producto interno

    bruto(mi

    llones

    de

    dolares)

    Produtcto

    inte

    rno

    brut

    oper

    capi

    ta

    (dol

    ares

    Proporcion del

    producto

    interno

    bruto

    dedicadoa la

    exportaci

    on

    11

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    )

    Bulgaria 8,952 11,906 1,330 45

    Hungria 10,202 30,671 3,010 33

    Polonia 38,365 75,268 1,960 19Republica

    Checa10,383 25,313 2,440 58

    Republica

    Slovaca5,346 10,249 1,920 28

    Rumania 22,865 24,865 1,090 28

    Total 96,113 178,272 1,854a 305

    1. Indicadores de poblacion, produccion y exportacionesde America del

    Norte

    Pais

    Poblacion

    (

    m

    il

    es

    )

    Producto interno

    bruto(mi

    llones de

    dolares)

    Produtcto

    inter

    no

    brut

    o per

    capita

    (dol

    ares)

    Proporcion del

    producto

    interno

    bruto

    dedicadoa

    laexportacio

    n

    Canada 27,844 565,787 20,320 25

    Estados

    Unidos255,414 5,904,822 23,120 11

    Mexico 84,967 294,831 13,470 14

    Total 368,225 6,765,440 18,374a 126

    1. Principales bloques de comercio mundial7

    Bloque

    Come

    Miembros Poblacion

    (

    Producto interno

    bruto(mill

    Produtcto

    intern

    12

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    rcial

    m

    ill

    o

    ne

    s)

    ones de

    dolares)

    o

    bruto

    per

    capita

    (dolares)

    TLC 3 363.3 6,404.2 17,622

    SICA 6 29.5 36.0 1,222

    ACS 25 198.7 474.0 2,386

    G3 3 137.8 377.7 2,740

    Pacto Andino 5 93.8 160.1 1,707

    MERCOSUR 4 191.6 544.1 2,840

    Union

    Europea815 368.8 7,269.1 19,658

    Union Europea 12 345.0 6,144.0 17,809

    APEC 13 1,961.0 11,135.1 5,678

    TLCMexico 83.3 282.5 3,391

    Estados Unidos 252.7 5,610.8 22,203

    Canada a 27.3 510.8 18,711

    SICA

    Costa Rica 3.1 5.6 1,796

    ACS

    Cuba 10.7 26.9 2,500

    G3

    13

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    Colombia 33.6 41.7 1,241

    Pacto Andino

    Venezuela 20.2 53.4 2,644

    MERCOSUR9

    Brazil 151.4 414.1 2,735

    Chile6 13.4 31.3 2,336

    Union Europea

    Alemania 79.6 1,692.0 21,256

    APEC

    Japon 124.0 3,337.0 26,911

    As of 2010 we have now 27 countries contained within the EU.

    Statistics from source: Olga M. Lazin, Mexico as

    Linchpin for Free Trade in the Americas, in Statistical Abstract of

    Latin America, vol. 31, 2001.

    1. Population and economic power index from devepoed countries (Indice

    de poblacion y poder economico de las principales unidades de

    comercio mundial) in 2010Area Population/Poblation GNP GNP/C

    Mexico 33.0 5.0 15.3

    Canada 10.8 9.1 84.3

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    MERCOSUR 75.8 9.7 12.8

    Alemania 31.5 30.2 95.7

    EU 147.6 131.5 89.1

    Japon 49.0 59.5 121.2

    To conclude on a general note, NAFTA is more equitably positioned in

    terms of internal wage gap between countries than is the EU. For NAFTA,

    the U.S. manufacturing wage rate is 6.8 time larger than Mexico. For the

    EU, the existing gap between the highest wage-paying Western Germany

    and the lowest paying Portugal is 5.4, but the potential gap once EU expands

    into Eastern Europe is 36.6 times--the difference between West Germany

    and Bulgaria.

    Equity is not the only issue, however, and indeed inequity in this case may

    help Eastern Europe attract capital in the competition for ever cheaper

    manufacturing sites in an era of globalization.

    Crossing back over the Atlantic, Mexico has taken up a leading role in

    requiring better Labor laws and environmental standards which are to be

    perfected within NAFTA, otherwise the second bigger free trade alliance

    will remain only a mere customs union.

    RECENT POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS:

    1. Obama agrees to reinstate Bush pilot program for Mexico trucks and

    drivers to enter USA, thus potentially ending WTO authorization of tariffs

    to punish U.S. for having violated NAFTA.

    2. Mexico is now benefiting from the electrical and hybrid car boom in the

    USA, U.S. auto companies have made Mexico their

    assembly/manufacturing base also because of Maquiladora legal

    advantages.

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    3. Auto and other manufacturing companies in EU countries (or other

    countries which do not have an FTA (Free Trade Area) with NAFTA or the

    USA are taking advantage of the fact that Mexico is the only country that

    has an FTA with NAFTA, thus EU countries, e.g., use Mexico as their

    manufacturing/assembly base to send their exports from Mexico to the

    USA as Mexican exports.

    4. Mexico is still the only country to have an FTA with both NAFTA and

    the EU.

    Canada is far from an accord with EU because each of the 27 EU countries

    will have to approve of that FTA.

    5. European and Asian countries are using Mexico as the base to export to

    Central and South Americas as well as the Caribbean.

    6. Many companies who left for China have returned to Mexico which has

    more secure legal system, does not demand co-ownership, and has much,

    much lower transport costs. Further, U.S. Executive can fly from many

    U.S.

    cities and still be in the same time zone and not suffer from long-flight

    jetlag to Asia.

    7. The Asian fresh vegetable market for export to USA is based on

    Mexico's West Coast. (The Dominican Republic failed for Asian exporters,

    owing to infrastructure and transport issues into the USA as well as time

    delay to reach the American West Coast where the Asian population has

    grown exponentially.)

    7. Many U.S. Companies requiring high-tech industrial skills have moved

    back to Mexico from the Caribbean (where they moved when the USA

    signed FTAs with that area.) Caribbean countries tend to lack high-tech

    advantages. Plus hurricanes are very disruptive.

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    B. Continuing Problem: NAFTA Red Flags

    1. Labor rights and double taxation and social security issues for

    workers are not included and far from inclusion.

    2. Public safety issues for executives and employees are of great concern to

    foreign companies.

    Olga Lazin 2011

    -----

    Footnotes

    (1)

    Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union? An Introduction to the European

    Community (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994), p.

    479.(2)

    Currently 54 votes out of 76 total are needed to obtain a "qualified"

    (decisive) majority; once the number of countries reaches 15, the

    decisive majority will be 62 votes out of 87 total. the U.K.'s concern is

    that even if it were to be joined by Germany and Holland to form a

    "liberal group," they could not form a blocking minority even though

    they have 40% of the vote between them. See Appendix A and "The

    European Union Survey," The Economist, October 22, 1994, p. 20.

    (3)

    "The European Union: Back to the Drawing Board," The Economist,

    September 10, 1994, pp. 21-23.

    (4)

    Ibid, p. 23.

    (5)

    See James W. Wilkie and Olga Lazin, "Mexico as Linchpin for Free

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    Trade in the Americas," Background Study prepared for PROFMEX-

    ANUIES Conference on "Mexico and the Americas," Puerto Vallarta,

    Mexico, November 13-16, 1994,

    (6) http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8467402-what-is-new-with-nafta, March 16, 2011

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