INTERNATIONAL

Mexico to Remove Many Price Controls: The Trade Ministry said it will remove the controls on a variety of goods ranging from automobiles to pencils. The controls, in place since 1982, will be lifted today because “market conditions and the diversity of products available allow the consumer to select the choice that best satisfies his needs,” the ministry said in a decree published in the official government gazette. Included in the list of goods whose prices will be freed are cars, buses, trucks, tractors, wheat, paper, pencils, soft drinks, tires, cement, mattresses, batteries, meat from vaccinated cattle, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and razors.