Nafta?

[Jack]

NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, is supposed to facilitate imports and exports between the US, Mexico, and Canada, without restrictions...or so I thought.
Take a look at this trade regulation Mexico just implemented:

A | A | A (March 2, 2008)--Some are dented, scratched and rusty.

Others rattle and belch under faded paint jobs.

But the "'98" soaped onto their windshields and a surprise change in Mexican import rules have turned a single year's worth of used cars into pick of the used-car lot.

Beginning Monday, only cars built in 1998 can be legally imported into Mexico.

Car dealers were given notice only a month ago.

Until now, used cars 10 to 15 years old were scooped up at auction by South Texas used car dealers and rapidly sold to Mexicans hungry for affordable transportation and "la novedad" – or novelty - of unfamiliar makes and models.

Cars newer than that were banned from imports as unwelcome competition for Mexican car dealers, and anything more than 15 years old was seen as a potential environmental and safety hazard.

But now, under pressure from Mexico's new car dealers who say "vehiculos chatarra," or jalopies, undercut their sales, the Mexican government is allowing only 10-year-old used cars to be legally imported into Mexico.

All of a sudden, 1998 Luminas, Astro vans and Ranger pickups are sought-after trophies.