New NAFTA deal 'won't fix' loss of competitiveness

MEXICO CITY - The revamped North American Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States fails to address the region's eroding competitiveness, according to a leading Mexican economist.

Jose Luis de la Cruz, general director of the Institute for Industrial Development and Economic Growth, said the updated version of the 1994 pact, renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, lacks integral policies such as those implemented by Asian countries instituted to boost competitiveness, such as promoting technological innovation.

North America's loss of competitiveness in semifinished product manufacture compared to other parts of the world, especially East Asia, is not going to be resolved through the new deal, de la Cruz said.