They have allowed some of the country's biggest industrial firms to foster more pliant company unions, such as Ford's, and many maquiladora (free zone) factories along Mexico's northern border get away with unions that are registered (thus excluding any others) but otherwise non-existent.

ECONOMIST: Mexico��s trade unions stick to the same old tune

Nearly three years ago Ulrich Hartmann, then the CEO of Veba, the German industrial combine, spoke eagerly of his ambition to expand the company beyond its home country's borders (" Ulrich Hartmann's second act, " Nov. 30, 1998).

FORBES: Another Look

Mittal has said he would be prepared to move his company's headquarters from the Dutch industrial city of Rotterdam to the tiny landlocked country of Luxembourg.

FORBES: French Cast Wary Eye On Mittal's Bid