AUTOS

NAFTA Predicted to Boost Auto Exports, Jobs: The Commerce Department promised “big gains” for the U.S. auto industry, including billions more dollars’ worth of exports supporting thousands of American jobs, if the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada is approved by Congress. It was the first of a blitz of 37 reports that the department said it would release shortly, detailing the benefits to major U.S. industries of the controversial North American Free Trade Agreement. The department estimated that U.S. exports from the auto industry would go up $2 billion in the first year of the NAFTA accord.