U.S., Canada, Mexico Close In on Trade Pact : Commerce: The final stages of the talks, involving hundreds of lesser disputes, may be finished in weeks.

Negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico on Monday began their biggest push yet to complete a free trade agreement.

For the first time since the countries started serious talks last June, the chief negotiators and the 19 subgroups that concentrate on specific issues are meeting in the same place for a week.

Their chief task is to resolve several hundred disputes they wrote into a first draft of the pact last month.

“The environment is excellent,” lead U.S. negotiator Julius Katz said. “But I have to say frankly I don’t think we will have resolved all of the issues by the end of the week.”

The Bush Administration has made the pact a cornerstone of its trade policies. The United States already has a free trade agreement with Canada. The current talks are aimed at creating a North American trade bloc that will rival those emerging in Europe and the Far East.

Katz and the other lead negotiators--Herminio Blanco of Mexico and John Weekes of Canada--declined to specify how many disputes remain.

Canadian Trade Minister Michael Wilson said earlier this month that some differences include disagreements on textiles, farm products and autos.

In Washington last week, a senior U.S. trade official said a pact could be reached by mid-March. The negotiators said they have been told to come up with an agreement as soon as possible.

The U.S.-Canada-Mexico talks have moved much faster than those for the U.S.-Canada treaty, which took effect in 1989 after more than three years of discussions.

The working groups, in charge of specific issues such as automobiles, agriculture or intellectual property, are to report frequently to the lead negotiators, Katz said.

President Bush has made creation of a free trade zone from the “Yukon to the Yucatan” a key economic goal, contending that it will expand export and investment opportunities for American businesses by eliminating--for the purposes of trade and investment--the borders between the three countries.

About 60 Dallas-area union activists Monday protested the talks, which they said will cause the United States to lose jobs to Mexico.

Katz said U.S. negotiators are keeping such fears in mind.

Environmental groups are also fighting the proposed agreement. They fear that lax Mexican pollution laws will harm the environment.