The economies of U.S. Midwestern states are experiencing sharp increases in exports to Mexico as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

• Exports to Mexico by 10 midwestern states jumped 16 percent last year from two years earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Nebraska alone saw its exports to Mexico jump an astonishing 122.1 percent from 1995 through 1996, Kansas was up over 50 percent and Minnesota 30 percent.
• Total U.S. exports to Mexico increased 11.7 percent over the past two years.
• Mexico is spending billions of dollars to modernize its infrastructure, creating strong demand for heavy construction equipment, such as bulldozers and cranes -- primarily products of the Mid-west.

The increased exports have caused Mexico to replace Japan as the U.S.'s second-largest trading partner, behind Canada. It has been estimated that Mexico will spend $35 billion to $50 billion through the year 2010 on projects such as new highways and waste-water treatment plants.

• U.S. auto makers are also benefiting, with exports of light vehicles south of the border soaring 30 percent last year.
• Exports of agricultural products to Mexico jumped 34.4 percent last year -- with shipments of wheat, rice, soybeans and cotton reaching their highest levels since 1970.

Not all sectors of the U.S. economy are benefiting to the same extent, however -- growth in sales of telecommunications equipment and retail sales are increasing more slowly. Those industries typically target the middle class, which virtually vanished during Mexico's economic nose-dive.

Source: Carl Quintanilla, "Midwest Boom Fueled by Mexico Trade," Wall Street Journal, April 21, 1997.