Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon said any renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement that worsens conditions for Mexicans will also be ``very bad'' for the United States.

``Everybody is going to lose,'' Calderon said during a speech at a Foreign Policy Association event in New York. ``The American consumers are going to lose. The Mexican workers are going to lose.''

Calderon said North America is losing competitiveness to Europe and Asia by not building on the benefits of Nafta since it took effect in 1994. U.S. critics of free trade have been more vocal this year as confidence in the economy erodes, and U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has said the agreement should be renegotiated to include labor and environmental standards.

``The choice is between a future of integration and success, and a future of distrust and resentment,'' Calderon said.

Mexico's ``labor-intensive'' economy compliments America's ``capital-intensive'' economy and the two countries need to work harder to integrate their markets, Calderon said.

``The long-term solution for all these problems can't be to close the border to the market,'' Calderon said. ``If any renegotiation worsens conditions to Mexico, that will be very bad for the U.S.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Fabiola Moura in New York at fdemoura@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 23, 2008 22:25 EDT