1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 543 Double Open
In the minds of most people in later generations, the relationship between the United States and Japan is a standard "virtuous father and filial son" relationship. The island country obeys America's orders. In addition to making a big comeback on her son every few years or even decades, America also attaches great importance to and cares for the island country.

But in fact, this view is somewhat biased.

At the very least, during the period from the 70s to the early to mid-s, America was extremely wary of the island country's economic strength... It can be said that if it weren't for the sudden rise of China, which caused America to shift its strategic focus, a certain wise father would definitely have devoured that filial son until not a bone was left.

During this period, to what extent has America been wary of the island country?

Let me put it this way. Since the early 20s, with the acceleration of the process of European economic integration, the island countries have also adopted an aggressive offensive strategy towards the North American market. The international economic status and competitive advantages of the United States and Canada have been relatively weakened. This has made America feel a huge threat, but it has also realized the necessity and urgency of further strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations.

Therefore, when Reagan was running for the American presidency in 1980, he proposed the idea of ​​a "North American Common Market" that would include America, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean countries; and Canada followed suit and in 1983 proposed the idea of ​​establishing a US-Canada Free Trade Area - please note that Canada proposed the idea of ​​a free trade area between only the United States and Canada.

Although the scope of Canada's envisioned free trade zone was significantly different from what America originally proposed and seemed to be a castrated version, the relevant agreement was not officially signed until June 1988, 6.

However, although Canada has abundant resources, its population base and worker efficiency are there. America soon discovered that Canada alone could not provide them with enough goods. As for replacing a series of products from the island country, that was even more unrealistic.

As a result, with the end of the Gulf War, America restarted negotiations on expanding the scope of the North American Free Trade Area, and finally successfully signed the Comprehensive Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA) on August 1992, 8.

There is no way. Although Mexico's economy is underdeveloped and its industrial manufacturing capacity is mediocre, it has a large population of 1.2 million. And although Mexico's image internationally is not very good, to be fair, Mexicans are relatively hardworking... America needs such a labor-rich country to continuously provide it with a variety of cheap substitute products, so as to get rid of its dependence on the island country.

In fact, with the formal entry into force of NAFTA, a pattern has been formed among the United States, Canada and Mexico, with Canada responsible for providing resources, Mexico responsible for providing manpower for manufacturing, and America responsible for providing part of the technology, while the three countries can then lie comfortably on beach chairs and enjoy a variety of cheap substitute products…To a large extent, the entry into force of the NAFTA agreement has completely made America the Mr. Huang of North America. Not only can it finally say "no" to a series of products from the island countries with confidence, it has also begun the process of gradually turning Central and South America into its own real backyard.

This agreement is even included in the textbooks of Huaxia Middle School. Its significance and influence are self-evident... In fact, NAFTA can be completely regarded as an "economic circulation system between internal and external circulation" created by America with its own strong strength and influence. It has a strong reference significance for both ASEAN and China, and even for the "Northeast Asia Free Trade Area" that has never been implemented.

OK, back to the topic.

Although there is still more than a year before the signing of the NAFTA agreement, America, which has initiated the negotiation process, has already listed the main framework clauses. Moreover, relying on America's own strength and the momentum of its victory in the Gulf War, even the most brainless person would not think that the agreement cannot be signed, nor would they think that the agreement framework listed by America will eventually change much.

Therefore, among those densely listed clauses, there are a few that easily attracted the attention of some interested people:
1. From the date of signing the agreement, in the next 10 to 15 years, tariffs and non-tariff barriers between the three countries will be gradually eliminated to achieve the free flow of goods.

2. To ensure that preferential treatment is only given to goods produced in North America, NAFTA has established rules of origin to ensure that only goods that meet specific conditions can enjoy zero tariff treatment.

3. For sensitive commodities such as agricultural products, textiles, automobiles, energy and basic petrochemical products, NAFTA has a series of special regulations, including commodity traceability, and will gradually eliminate tariffs on these commodities.

These three agreements seem very normal, but anyone with a little social experience can immediately smell the trick.

………………

"Mr. Yang, what you mean is... if the North American Free Trade Agreement can be signed smoothly, we must seize the important opportunity a few years before the agreement takes effect?"

Qin Xin carefully savored the information revealed by Yang Mo, and then asked with some uncertainty.

Yang Mo glanced at him approvingly and nodded gently: "I really didn't misjudge you... Lao Tan, you have become a master in the past year or so of Mo Mo Bai Tou."

Qin Xin smiled embarrassedly, feeling relieved, his brain immediately started to work, thinking that he should start a business in Mexico through a backdoor listing.

Different positions lead to different perspectives on the issue. After all, Qin Xin has been the deputy section chief of Mo Mo Bai Tou for more than a year. Naturally, he can see that the three clauses that Yang Mo emphasized just now in the framework agreement under discussion repeatedly use the words "gradually" and "in line with the conditions". To put it bluntly, America needs to reserve enough window period to give its own industrial capital and financial capital time to transfer and take root.

You have to understand that although America essentially needs large quantities of cheap goods made in Mexico to replace imported goods from the island country, in fact, as the importers and consumers of these goods, America and Canada naturally have the initiative in the market. After all, they are the ones who pay for the goods.

But with such a warning example in mind, is it possible for America to support Mexico again as it did with the island nation after World War II?

Obviously impossible.

Therefore, in order for the NAFTA agreement to take effect, there must be a prerequisite... The main production companies behind these manufactured products exported to the United States and Canada, or the core links of related industries, must have capital participation or even controlling stakes from the United States and Canada.

It doesn't take much insight to figure this out. In the past two years, America has been continuously transferring some mid- to high-end manufacturing industries to South Korea. This is what they did in the process... Since South Korea must accept such conditions if it wants to take over those industries, then as its own backyard, Mexico must certainly do the same.

Although this kind of overbearing potential is a bit excessive, it also means some huge opportunities that ordinary people cannot understand.

You have to know that if capital from the United States and Canada pours into Mexico's manufacturing industry, this will certainly cause Mexico to lose a lot of industrial initiative, but this economic circulation system between the internal and external circulations also means that a lot of technology will be brought in at the same time as capital is injected... Although America is gradually transferring some mid-to-high-end manufacturing industries to South Korea, most of the technologies that Mexico can get will undoubtedly be of lower gold content, but for China, which still has a weak foundation and is extremely eager in this regard, these technologies are already treasures.

Ok……

One point that needs to be specially mentioned here is that although China's manufacturing industry has made great progress since the 1990s, and has made rapid progress since the millennium, becoming a well-deserved manufacturing power in the world, such a great improvement has been achieved in just three decades, as if the advancement of these technologies is a natural and easy thing.

But in fact, only those who know something about this period of history know how difficult the journey was for China to reach this point step by step.

Most people think of technology acquisition and upgrading: China builds a factory in a joint venture with an island country or America, the investment scale increases, and the project is valuable, so the other party transfers part of the technology to you free of charge.

The actual acquisition and upgrading of technology: hundreds of millions of ordinary workers are engaged in the "three-in-one" foreign trade projects, relying on cheap labor and countless blood and sweat to help foreign companies make a fortune. Then, after they have produced 10 million pieces of clothing in China at an outrageously low cost, after repeated negotiations with the competent authorities, they will transfer the production technology of a copper zipper to you as a charity, or tell you how many turns a screw needs to be tightened when installing the machine.

It can be said that in those years, China was willing to pay 100 or even 200 yuan in order to obtain a technology that was actually worth 1000 yuan... To achieve technological upgrades in all industrial sectors, the difficulty is absolutely hellish.

Now we know that an opportunity to acquire a large amount of manufacturing technology, even if most of it is mid- and low-end manufacturing technology, is very precious to China at this time, right?
Ok……

By now, I believe that all the teachers have already realized that the reason why Yang Mo suddenly planned to let Qin Xin and Li Jun reopen the map in Mexico was mainly because of the technologies that will be gradually transferred over in the next few years.

In fact, this is not only the business scope of a certain medium-sized asset company, but also one of the necessary conditions for Shen Xing and Yang Mo to cooperate.

There is no way. The system that Shen Xing belongs to is special. Like the oil system, they all have requirements and hard indicators for conducting overseas business. In such units, responsibilities and rights are complementary to each other. Even if the business needs to be divested, there is absolutely no reason to just divide the meat and leave the hard bones.

The reason why Shen Xing proposed this initiative and set his sights on Mexico across the ocean was actually because he was inspired by Yang Mo.

Yang Mo asked Zhang Wenshun to open a new map, using Kyrgyzstan as a springboard, and wanted to forcibly insert himself into the Eurasian Union economic circle dominated by the Bear Country. This matter has actually spread in some small circles... Although this plan is still in the preparation stage, since this matter was proposed by Yang Mo on his own initiative, no matter whether it goes smoothly in the future, it at least proves that this logic can work.

Since we can use Kyrgyzstan as a springboard to embed into the economic circle of the Bear Country, and seeing that America has restarted negotiations on expanding the scope of NAFTA, can we use Mexico as a springboard to embed ourselves into the North American Free Trade Area on a small scale?
However, this kind of plan has an extremely long cycle, extremely high continuous investment costs, and a great risk of failure midway. Even though Du Xing gave several gifts with great sincerity, he still had no confidence that Yang Mo would accept this seemingly large piece of fat meat, which was actually an extremely heavy burden... But he had no choice. If he could not take over the rights and responsibilities together, then his cooperation with Yang Mo would have to come to an end ahead of time.

However, what surprised him was that after Yang Mo heard which asset company he was going to reorganize and the pick-up and binding plan, he only thought about it for five minutes and finally nodded in agreement. This really made him think highly of this young man who was only two or three years older than his niece... Although he was young, as a deputy director-level cadre, Yang Mo's vision was no smaller than that of his leaders.

But this is just another beautiful misunderstanding.

As a reborn person, and one who had once been involved in foreign trade, Yang Mo naturally knew that since the late 1990s, as the Chinese gradually figured out the trade springboard model, Chinese companies like himself that set up transit businesses and ferry points in various places by using shell companies were everywhere.

Even in later times when China and the United States were competing in trade, a considerable portion of China's products were exported to Mexico in the form of parts and components, which were then assembled into products by local Mexican companies and sold directly to America; this situation not only occurred in America, but also in Europe, island countries, South Korea, ASEAN, and even India.

It is precisely because of this that a senior American official in later generations lamented helplessly: It is impossible to get rid of MADE IN CHNIA, and it is impossible to get rid of China's supply chain.

So, from Yang Mo's point of view, since this springboard model has been proven to work, it is only a matter of a few years earlier or later. Why should he pretend to be so aggressive and try to control others when there is actually not much risk?

After all, this is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. The sooner this springboard model can be fully rolled out, the sooner China will be able to enter the stage of full industrial upgrading. Although Yang is not a good person, he still has a clear grasp of such major issues.

………………

"So... Mr. Yang, your idea is to make Mexico a transit point for Chinese goods through advance planning?"

Li Jun showed a look of surprise, he didn't expect that Yang Mo actually planned to expel both of them.

You know, Zhang Wenshun’s actions in Kashgar and Kyrgyzstan have not officially started yet.

Yang Mo nodded: "Lao Li, the reason why I want you to go with me is that, on the one hand, you started out in the canned food business, and the demand for all kinds of canned food in Europe and the United States is astonishingly large. With your experience, it will be easier to develop the business even if the shells are changed." "On the other hand, Mexico is different from China. There are many messy things in Mexico, and it is much more troublesome to deal with them;"

"Old Tan can take the lead in matters concerning capital and equity. For matters that are not convenient to be put on the table, your future partners will be responsible. However, you will need to take on business operations and some matters that are neither black nor white... In this regard, you undoubtedly have more experience."

Yang Mo's words are very insightful. Doing business in the 1980s and 1990s, especially doing business with private enterprises and township enterprises, was far from being as gentle and elegant as later generations thought. If you cannot be both civil and military, sooner or later you will be ripped off without a bone left.

This is the case even when doing business domestically, let alone foreign trade business... As mentioned earlier, Li Jun is very familiar with the market in the Bear Country, which obviously cannot be explained by simply saying "I had a friend doing business in the Bear Country before."

In the past year, the Xi Xiangfeng Cannery has been able to successfully open business connection points in so many townships and independently develop so many small regional channels, which undoubtedly proves this point... Again, don't think that the people of Qi and Lu are known for their simplicity, so you think that business here will be easy to develop. There are indeed many places in Qi and Lu that are famous for their tough folk customs, and any place that can be called "tough folk customs" is not easy to deal with.

Li Jun's expression changed slightly when he heard Yang Mo's words, but he finally nodded slightly. After taking a deep breath, he asked nervously, "Boss Yang, although I understand your instructions, I am a little unsure... Since it is called the transit station for Chinese products, then no matter it is finished products, accessories or raw materials, they must be imported from China."

"But doesn't the framework agreement listed by America require product traceability?"

"If the inspection there is strict, even if we succeed in backdoor listing in Mexico, once the source is traced...will all our efforts be in vain?"

Yang Mo smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. America's current technology and management cannot completely trace the source. Even if they trace the source and find that the raw materials or accessories are from China, they generally won't investigate further."

At this point, Yang Mo glanced at him and Qin Xin and reminded them, "Old Qin, Old Li, don't forget the main purpose of the NAFTA agreement... Before the best-selling products in the island country are completely replaced, America will not care where the raw materials and accessories of these products come from."

Of course, after the island country's products are completely replaced, America will find that a considerable part of their domestic market for daily necessities has been occupied by more affordable Chinese goods. By then, it will be even more difficult to achieve replacement again.

Li Jun nodded slightly, but still a little uneasy: "But since America intends to replace the island country's products, then there must be lower requirements for the prices of various products, otherwise it will not be able to replace them at all... In this case, even if it is just the finished product traceability, the raw materials and accessories from China have traveled thousands of miles across the ocean, and it seems that the tariffs here in Mexico are not low. In this case, can our products still have a price advantage?"

Yang Mo seemed not to hear his question and just kept making tea.

Just when Li Jun thought that his words displeased Yang Mo and that he lacked the ability to take responsibility and solve problems, Yang Mo's light voice came over: "Tariffs? What tariffs?"

Li Jun was stunned. This boss didn’t even know what tariffs were?

It shouldn’t be!

He reacted immediately and a look of horror appeared on his face.

Yang Mo leisurely handed over another cup of tea. Seeing the look on his face, he immediately laughed softly: "I said that the situation in Mexico is different from that in our country. It's a mess from top to bottom... Actually, you don't have to take this matter too seriously, Old Li. I have asked Du Xing to go find Wang Yinuo himself. If Wang Yinuo is willing to get involved, both sides will naturally help you coordinate some suitable personnel and local overseas Chinese to come over."

Li Jun understood immediately and nodded quickly, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Judging from what Yang Mo revealed at the end, many things are no longer something a little grasshopper like him should know.

Anyway, this boss has always been known for his boldness and carefulness. Since he has decided to fight on two fronts, he must have an overall plan. I just need to follow his instructions honestly and do my part well.

………………

Half an hour later, several people stood up and said goodbye.

Zhuo Mali, the only one who stayed, gently closed the door, then tilted her head and looked at Yang Mo for a while: "Brother, you called Song Wenxuan back... I'm afraid it's not just to tell him the good news about the hotel chain project, right?"

Yang Mo took out a cigarette and lit it. "Of course. Although the China-Japan Economic Promotion Association is just a newly established organization and even its internal affairs have not been completely sorted out, its business is much bigger than that hotel chain... If we ask Old Song to make a special trip for such a matter, wouldn't that be confusing priorities?"

Zhuo Mali looked at him with a smile: "I knew it...Brother, the reason why you called Song Wenxuan back and gave the task to Lao Tan and Director Li in front of him was that you planned to tell those island companies about building a springboard in Mexico after he said so, right?"

Yang Mo gave her a thumbs up without hesitation: "As expected, Sister Zhuo, you are not in vain as the chief assistant... Yes, that's what I mean. Old Song is not a fool. He knows that there are some things that I can't say in person, so if it goes as expected, he will definitely reveal this information to those island companies at the right opportunity and on the right occasion."

Zhuo Mali glanced at him charmingly: "Otherwise, people would say that you are an old fox in human skin. You clearly want to have the best of both worlds and intend to take advantage of the situation to get more technology and projects from the island country, but you won't even open your mouth... Those island country companies are unlucky to have a partner like you!"

Yang Mo laughed: "After all, NAFTA is mainly targeting island countries. We can use a shell company in Mexico, or even in Canada. It's not because we are so smart, but because we are China. China is not a threat to America economically, but it will be an extremely important industrial and capital transfer site in the future... So America doesn't mind us getting stuck there."

"But the island countries can't do that. If they dare to follow suit, they will be beaten to pieces by America. "

"So, if those island companies are unwilling to give up the North American market and are unwilling to surrender, the only thing they can do is to find Chinese companies to cooperate with them and borrow our Chinese shells... Only China can rely on the huge market in the future to make America choose to turn a blind eye after it realizes that the island companies are indirectly participating in the North American Free Trade Zone on a small scale. Even if those island companies choose to borrow the shells of companies in other countries, it won't work!"

At this point, Yang Mo's smile became a little sinister: "So, with such a good opportunity to blackmail, how could I just let it go?"

Zhuo Mali rolled her eyes at him and said, "I think only you, my brother, can turn an open plot into a conspiracy."

As she spoke, she stretched her waist very casually, showing off her explosive figure. Zhuo Mali's tone was not without complaints: "So, you called me, a small assistant, here today and listened to the meeting for more than an hour like a mute. In fact, you just wanted to tell me... The follow-up contact and testing matters with those island companies will have to fall on a poor person like me?"

Yang Mo chuckled, "You can't let me talk to those little devils right away, right? Once I show up, there will be no room for maneuver. It would be bad if the talks fail. So it's most appropriate to let Lao Song make the first contact and you, the chief assistant, make the second contact."

"In fact, it would be best if I didn't show up in the end. Otherwise, I don't know what kind of handle I would have in the future... In fact, the assistant to the general manager of Dezhou Urban Property Fund Company is definitely the second-in-command of the business. Such an important position is enough to finalize most of the cooperation matters."

Zhuo Mali couldn't help but give him a blank look.

It was clearly an attempt to shift the blame, but he was treated as if he was flattering himself. The shamelessness of this guy really opened her eyes.

However, Zhuo Mali is not like other people. As the general assistant, she can ask questions that others, such as Li Jun, dare not ask.

He glanced at the door and found that there was no shadow under the crack. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Boss Yang, I couldn't ask you some questions when the others were here. Now that no one is around, I dare to ask you a question... Dahua Company's budget for the whole year was allocated at the beginning of the year. Besides the special fund of less than 50 million left in the urban construction account, the account of the Urban Property Fund Company is all in debt."

After a slight pause, Zhuo Mali lowered her voice: "At present, the surplus funds of the companies with some strength in Dezhou and Lanling have been borrowed almost by the urban real estate funds. Even if we don't consider the bond interest that the company needs to pay this year, it will take at least half a year for those companies to accumulate a new round of sufficient idle capital pools;"

"So, let's not talk about anything else, just talking about the backdoor listing and the establishment of a springboard market in Mexico... How do we solve the funding problem?"

Although opening two maps at the same time sounds great, funding is a big problem. Even if you think about it, you will know that the asset company reorganized by Shen Xing definitely does not have the ability to independently bear the funding for such a large plan... Even if there was enough funding originally, there will be none after the restructuring agreement is reached.

The Urban Property Fund Company has half the attributes of an urban investment company. If Yang Mo's relationship with Tian Guangyue and You Yakun is not so subtle, relying on the competent authorities of DZ City, Yang Mo has plenty of ways to raise enough funds;
But unfortunately, based on Zhuo Mali's understanding of Yang Mo, this guy would never give in to You Yakun and the others before he completely helped Ye Tao to stand up again... In fact, even if he did, it would be unlikely for him to give in to them.

Therefore, Zhuomali really couldn't think of any other way that Yang Mo could solve the funding problem... You know, Zhang Wenshun's budget for developing the Kyrgyzstan springboard market was as high as 5 million; if he set up another set in Mexico, the budget couldn't be much lower than Zhang Wenshun's, right?

This is at least more than 3 million yuan!

Even though Yang Mo has been carrying out projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two years, those funds were basically squeezed out from the headquarters. If it were any other unit, it would be impossible to have such a large amount of money... Forget hundreds of millions, tens of millions would be enough to shock the whole country!

However, the budget from the headquarters has basically been allocated this year, and it would be extremely difficult to get more support from the headquarters!

Yang Mo looked at the worry on the pretty face and shrugged nonchalantly: "As for the funding issue, Sister Zhuo, you don't have to worry about it... Anyway, we will sign the strategic restructuring agreement with Shen Xing next month. When the project is officially launched, there will be no shortage of funds!"

Hearing this guy keeping the secret again, Zhuo Mali could not help but be speechless.

However, after hearing what Yang Mo said, she felt more at ease. After all, this guy in front of her would do surprising things from time to time. Since he said that there would be no problem with the funds at that time, then there shouldn't be any problem.

Thinking of this, Zhuo Mali raised her wrist to check her watch, then glanced at the sky outside, but leaned forward and put half of her body on Yang Mo's shoulder: "Brother, today is Saturday, and we will get off work in five minutes... So according to the agreement, I have to work hard tonight."

Yang Mo seemed to be used to Zhuo Mali's sudden approach. Hearing this, he looked at his watch, sighed a little tiredly, and then stood up: "Okay... Sister Zhuo, what are we going to eat tonight? Lead the way!"

(End of this chapter)