his increased the competitiveness of Chinese and Japanese goods and made exports from Southeast Asia more expensive since their currencies were still pegged to the rising US dollar. Exports from the region rapidly lost their competitiveness and ceased their previous continuous growth. Thailand, for example, went from a 25 per cent growth in merchandise exports in 1995 to zero growth in 1996. Export growth was also affected by economic slowdown in Europe and Japan and by increasing US textile imports from Mexico following the signing of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).