Mexico’s pursue and implementation ofthe North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was apro-growth policy strategy that deepened Mexico’s economicliberalization process at a time of crisis and macroeconomicstabilization. In that context, NAFTA constituted acommitment device to investment that ensured continuity toboth the stabilization and the liberalization processes.NAFTA was possible for Mexico thanks to a new coalitionbetween public and private elites that had recently gonethrough a deep transformation process themselves. After morethan twenty years, NAFTA has significant results in terms ofinvestment and levels and diversification of trade; however,the evidence on its impact in growth and development ismixed. The asymmetry of negotiation power between the UnitedStates and Mexico affected the agreement, but its finalshape and implementation were impacted in important ways byMexico’s political realities. Two examples of this: Thehighly hierarchical, camarilla-style line of command of theMexican team derived in in controversial concessions andstrategic mistakes in the areas of agriculture and financialservices. Later, a corporatist, authoritarian regime induceda weak supplementary labor accord that can have had thepotential of effectively promoting higher equity throughstrengthened workers’ rights and more democratic industrial relations.
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