(FORTUNE Magazine) – Although President Bush and his counterparts in Canada and Mexico have agreed to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement among the three countries, the treaty still hangs in limbo. Clinton will have to go along with it, as will Congress. Meanwhile, the six countries that form the largely political Association of Southeast Asian Nations have put together their own free-trade plan. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand will start to lower tariffs on one another's products on January 1. The process will be completed over 15 years. The Asean agreement will not raise barriers to imports from outside the region, however, which is good news for U.S. companies. Such American exports as computers and aircraft to the Asean countries rose 61% between 1988 and 1991 to $21 billion, and demand is increasing. The nations have some of the world's fastest-growing economies and a combined population of 327 million.