Firms Feeling Frisky About Free-Trade Pact : Exports: Some are laying plans for more sales in Mexico as talks go forward on a proposed elimination of tariffs.

NEWPORT BEACH — For Frederick Fourcher, owner of a small satellite communications firm, talks about a proposed U.S.-Mexico free-trade agreement could not have come at a better time.

Fourcher’s Newport Beach-based Miralite Communications Inc. began selling satellite communication systems to Mexican companies and government agencies last year, ringing up first-year sales of $1 million.

Talks about the proposed North American free-trade zone--encompassing Mexico, the United States and Canada--have some Orange County businesses readying plans to cash in on new opportunities. While Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari is visiting U.S. cities this week to promote the trade deal, Fourcher, for example, is making plans to hire several Spanish-speaking salespeople to expand his exports to Mexico.

“With a free-trade agreement, my sales to Mexico could easily double in a year,” Fourcher said.

Other local business people--with lawyers and accountants taking the lead--are also preparing to peddle their services and products to Mexico.

“Mexico’s accounting principles are comparable to the United States’ but there are some unique aspects, such as inflation-adjusted accounting practices, which are more commonly used in Mexico because of its high inflation rate,” said Robert Miranda, a Santa Ana accountant.

Miranda, who was among 16 Latino business people who met with President Bush last week in Orange County, hopes that the trade deal will create higher visibility and more opportunity for Latinos in the U.S. economy.

Alfredo Amezcua, a Santa Ana attorney, said the pact would provide Latino lawyers and law firms a chance to gain experience in international trade law.

“When I graduated from law school in 1986, I felt that the big law firms were not taking advantage of our language and cultural skills along with our legal background,” he said. “The pact will open many possibilities for Latino law firms like mine.”

While the proposed trade deal could be a boon for Orange County companies, it could be a bane to the county’s factory workers, said Luis Suarez-Villa, a UC Irvine associate professor who specializes in regional economics.

One of the likely advantages for local companies would be a reduction in export- and import-related paperwork. The access to lower-cost labor in Mexico could also help local firms compete better in the global economy, he said.

But workers in aerospace, computer and other high-tech fields could face the risk of U.S. companies moving their manufacturing operations south of the border, Suarez-Villa said.

He said he doubts that many smaller technology- or research-oriented firms would move operations to Mexico. “They rely more on local services and local employment and so they’re less likely to move,” he said.

For Mexicans, the trade deal could create jobs and raise living standards. It could also reduce the number of undocumented Mexican workers coming to the United States, said Lucia de Garcia, an Irvine consultant who took part in a meeting of Latino business people with President Bush in Washington last month.

“There will be more opportunities for American companies to sell their products in Mexico once the tariff is lifted, creating more jobs in both countries,” said De Garcia, who has been lobbying for a U.S.-Mexico free-trade agreement since 1984.

Companies like AST Research Inc. are also monitoring the trade deal. The Irvine personal computer maker hopes to increase its profile in Mexico by opening a sales office in Mexico City this year. Anaheim Marketing International, a manufacturer of garbage disposals and water filters, has started to hire more Spanish-speaking sales staff in hopes of expanding its Mexican market, which now accounts for just 2% of total sales.

Public Freight Service, a freight company in Buena Park, is planning to expand its service to Mexico if a free-trade agreement is signed. But company President Anna Aguiar said it could be tough to compete with low-cost Mexican freight carriers. She hopes to expand her business to U.S. companies that are already participating in the maquiladora program, which allows American firms to manufacture their products in certain parts of Mexico and import these products to the United States duty free.

total annual trade of $225 billion.