leas for less restrictions on Mexico's energy market. Yet U.S. economists are in accord that the final agreement, which will let U.S. and Canadian companies eventually bid for 70 percent of procurement by Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil monopoly, was more generous than expected.
Other analysts state that NAFTA could further a trend toward rival regional economic trade blocs, since some Japanese companies that have been operating in any of the three countries involved in the pact will most likely be discriminated against. However, creating a North American market which can effectively compete against Europe and Japan was the major impetus behind NAFTA. So if Europe and Japan are worried, then the negotiators did their job well.
Despite any misgivings the Japanese may have about NAFTA, large Japanese banks have increased short-term trade loans to Mexico in light of the perceived risk reduction brought about by NAFTA. Some banks have already increased credit exposure to over $100 million ("Major Japanese Banks" 5).
In Monterrey, Mexico, despite the fact that NAFTA has not yet been ratified by the U.S. Congress, half a dozen American fast-food chains have joined McDonald's (which was established in Monterrey five years ago) in setting up locations there. In addition to these American companies, local people can now watch a Blockbuster Video, buy hardware from True Value, and buy Bordon's Milk and Sara Lee bread ("It's Happening in Monterrey" 50).
Mexican industries from Monterrey have crossed the border as well. Some of the larger industrial companies are putting plants in the U.S., while the smaller business are looking for U.S. partners. A new motorway, almost completed, will link San Antonio to Monterrey and shorten the old trip one and one-half hours. According to the governor of the state of Nuevo Leon, of which Monterrey is the capital, north-east Mexico and Texas are moving towards real integration.
Even b...