Mexico and U.S. executives to share data to make case for free trade

Mexican and U.S. business leaders will share information on cross-border economic integration as they seek to build a case for free trade under the government of President-elect Donald Trump, a top industry group said on Wednesday.

Trump has threatened to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), prompting concern in Mexico about the future of the economy, trade and foreign investment.

During a two-day meeting in Mexico City, the executives agreed to share data on trade, including the geographic areas where exports and imports have generated jobs, said Juan Pablo Casta��on, president of Mexican group Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE).

"We will find points of synergy that allow us to have arguments to convince our respective governments, in particular the incoming government of the United States," Casta��on told reporters.

During the run-up to the signing of the trade accord in the 1990s, lobbyists also worked to explain the benefits of free trade to domestic politicians and lawmakers in the United States.

Mexicans involved in those lobbying efforts say data linking job creation in the United States to bilateral trade with Mexico helped make the case for NAFTA.

(Reporting by Joanna Zuckerman Bernstein and Dave Graham; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)