Wilson Urges Americans to ‘Evangelize’ for Free Trade : Commerce: Governor ends two days of talks in Mexico. He says pact would create jobs on both sides of the border.

Gov. Pete Wilson urged American business people Thursday to “go out and evangelize” for swift U.S. approval of a free-trade agreement with Mexico, saying it would create jobs on both sides of the border and help boost California’s slumping economy.

“Brothers and sisters,” he told a luncheon meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, “go with the missionary zeal that I hope you feel. This is an opportunity we should not miss.”

Ending two days of talks that he called very productive, the governor and state officials said Mexican leaders had addressed their primary concerns about the fairness of the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement and its effect on the border environment.

The accord, now in the final stages of negotiation between the Bush Administration and the Mexican government, would phase out virtually all barriers to bilateral trade. Wilson cited a Bank of America study predicting that the treaty will help triple two-way trade between Mexico and California, already more than $9 billion per year, in the 1990s.

American labor leaders and environmentalists have criticized the accord, arguing that it will encourage American-based companies to move to Mexico to take advantage of cheaper labor and less-rigid pollution controls.

Wilson, an adviser to the U.S. trade negotiators, admitted that free trade will be harder to sell to the Congress in a recession-plagued election year, but insisted: “What we should do, politics aside, is to move as rapidly as we can toward a consummation of that agreement.”

Acknowledging that some California industries would suffer dislocation, he said Mexican officials assured him that the treaty “is not going to remove protection from certain import-sensitive products overnight.” California officials said this means that growers of such agricultural goods as tomatoes would have years to adjust to competition from Mexico.

The governor said recent revisions of Mexico’s patent and copyright laws offer adequate security for California’s music, motion picture and pharmaceutical industries to expand across the border. He said Mexican officials assured him that these laws will be vigorously enforced.

Wilson met Wednesday with President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and his secretaries of commerce, urban development, ecology and agriculture. He held talks Thursday with Mexico City Mayor Manuel Camacho Solis and Foreign Minister Fernando Solana.

He described Mexico’s chief trade negotiator, Commerce Secretary Jaime Serra Puche, as “one of the great natural salesmen of our time.”

“Some (trade) issues are still outstanding,” the governor said, “but we’re confident the gap will be bridged.”

Wilson’s advisers said those issues include access to Mexico’s banking and telecommunications sectors, which have been slower to open to foreign investment under Salinas’ free-market reforms, and Mexico’s enforcement of environmental standards.

In his speech, Wilson gave Salinas “enormous credit” for taking action against major polluters and expanding the environmental budget.

California officials said they were told that Mexico will commit $400 million to a joint U.S.-Mexican plan to monitor and control air and water pollution along the border. The plan is expected to be announced within weeks.

James M. Strock, California’s secretary for environmental protection, said Mexico is very committed to stopping pollution of border rivers, assuming responsibility for hazardous waste disposal from border assembly plants, controlling the use of pesticides on farm exports, and using California technology to combat air pollution in Mexico City.

“It’s a question of attitude,” Strock said. “Mexico is moving toward environmental standards at a pace that’s unprecedented for a developing country. Is there work to be done? Absolutely. There must be vigilance throughout the process.”

Business executives at the luncheon applauded Wilson’s bullish free-trade pitch, but some said they were skeptical about Mexico’s commitment to curb polluters.

“Mexico is implementing a lot of (environmental) laws, but there’s still a lot of ways to get around them,” said Roy A. Crumrine, finance director of Felcon de Mexico, a subsidiary of Clorox. “They don’t throw enough money into enforcement. Most policemen here still earn the minimum wage, and the only way they can make a decent living is by extracting bribes.”