Business

On his first visit to Washington since he took office last December, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari wanted to do more than exchange pleasantries with the Bush Administration. As it happened, he was able to cap his three-day trip with a flourish last week when he and President Bush signed an agreement to promote free trade and investment between the two countries. At a White House signing ceremony, Bush hailed the pact as evidence of "the special relationship" between the U.S. and Mexico.

The accord requires the two parties to identify by next month industries and export products that could benefit from lower tariffs, and then gradually to reduce those duties. U.S. Administration officials said the affected products would most probably include processed foods, petrochemicals, electronic equipment and automobiles.

Mexico, which ships about two-thirds of its $21 billion in export wares to U.S. markets, hopes the Washington agreement will make it easier to sell more goods to its neighbor. Stronger export sales would help finance the country's $100 billion foreign debt.