MEXICO IN THE WTO DEBATE ANTONIO ORTIZ MENA Within a context of severe macroeconomic imbal­ances, Mexico opened its market through unilat­eral trade liberalization in the 1980s, joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT) in 1986, and negotiated a series of regional trade agreements throughout the 1990s, foremost among them the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA), and an Association Agree­ment with the European Union. Today, Mexico is th the world’s 9 largest trader and by far the most important one in Latin America. It participates actively in multilateral trade negotiations, and is still one of the most dynamic participants in regional trade agreements. This report provides a concise overview of th Mexico’s position in the run-up to the 5 WTO Ministerial in Cancun. It is divided into four secti­ons. Section I covers public attitudes towards the WTO; section II states the costs and benefits of Mexico’s WTO membership; section III deals with Mexico’s positions in the Doha Development Agenda; section IV explains Mexico’s stance to­ward regionalism and multilateralism; and section V concludes with Mexico’s likely negotiation tac­tics in Cancun. 1 Public attitudes towards the WTO In Mexico, public opinion on trade policy matters tends to go in tandem with trade flows. Accor­dingly, the most salient concern is by far econo­mic relations with the United States. Other deve­lopments, such as multilateral trade relations and even hemispheric ones, are usually regarded as being of relatively little consequence. Nonethe less, there are growing concerns about the effects of Chinese exports into the Mexican market, and competition with Chinese exports in third markets. The most recent surveys on the attitudes of Mexi­cans toward free trade show the following: a majority of Mexicans support free trade and be­lieve that joining NAFTA was a correct decision; they support the protection of“strategic” indus­tries; they support the Free Trade Area of the Americas but reject the need for democracy as a requirement to join that free trade area; and they prefer the United States as Mexico’s major trade partner over any other country in the Americas. Business groups Business interests involved in trade issues are organized under the Foreign Trade Organizations Coordinating Council(COECE), and have ex­tremely close links with negotiators. In 2000, business representatives from five sectors(electric and electronics, automobiles, capital goods, texti-