The success or failure of Mr Fox's presidency may hang on the outcome of that bargaining.
Mr Fox accept an invitation to visit to Mr Bush's ranch in Texas in March.
But Mr Fox still hints at opening the border completely in the long term.
Mr Fox's immediate task, however, is to cushion the blow from the United States' slowdown.
Mr Fox's centre-right party is widely seen to represent the face of modern Mexican business.
They may scarcely show up before Mr Fox comes to the end of his term.
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PRI, Mr Fox is also regarded as one of the founders of Mexico's nascent democracy.
Mr Fox said he will be offering different service levels to domestic and business customers.
Mr Fox is promoting an ambitious joint development scheme for Central America, called the Puebla-Panama Plan.
This week, Mr Fox unveiled a few more of his plans for reform of government.
Mr Fox left the company at the same time as former finance director David Wolffe.
Polls show that in this, as in many other matters, Mr Fox has public support.
And it is a trend that makes even Mr Fox's own party difficult to control.
Mr Fox also offered no help on Iraq, and relations have been slow to recover.
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By contrast, Mr Fox says all except the most senior officials can stay on.
So, too, is a better education system, on which Mr Fox promises to spend more.
Mr Fox pledged to build 750, 000 houses a year by the end of his term.
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Mr Fox and his new friends are all focused on the next likely referendum.
But Mr Fox said the decision by the Welsh Labour government was "waste of taxpayers' money".
To be fair, Mr Fox had reassured Mr Bush of Mexico's solidarity early on.
Asked if climate change had been over-emphasised in comparison with population growth, Mr Fox agreed.
Mr Fox's envoys have tried to contact the rebels but, they say, without success.
But enacting these depends on the federal Congress, in which Mr Fox lacks a majority.
Correspondents say Mr Fox has been praised by Washington for taking on powerful drug cartels.
In human rights, as in much else, Mr Fox has promised a lot but delivered little.
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Mr Fox unveiled an even more ambitious scheme to improve infrastructure in southern Mexico and Central America.
Mr Fox urged an end to the ring-fencing of budgets for the NHS, schools and international development.
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Mr Fox's government also launched a health-care programme called Seguro Popular for those outside the social-security system.
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And, like the bus company's sudden preference for legal videos, many are happening without Mr Fox's help.
Labour said Mr Fox had "fallen foul of the standards expected of ministers and broken the rules".
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