President George W. Bush and the leaders of Canada and Mexico will use a summit meeting today in New Orleans to defend free trade and their $930 billion in cross-border commerce against a political backlash. It won't be easy.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon have each made lowering trade barriers, cutting regulation and supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement a hallmark of their administrations, and will make the case with Bush for those policies.

``All three governments want to push back on the perception that Nafta is a disaster,'' said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, a business-backed group that will meet with the leaders tomorrow. ``The overriding political imperative is the support of Nafta.''

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Each leader faces opposition related to Nafta, the world's largest free-trade agreement. As a result, analysts are predicting few tangible results from this fourth gathering of the three leaders dealing with a joint effort on security and commerce.

``They will have some jambalaya, eat some gumbo and send the right signals, but don't expect much,'' said Michael Hart, a political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.

One goal is to harmonize standards in areas such as fuel efficiency and automobile testing, Dan Fisk, director for Western Hemisphere affairs on Bush's National Security Council, told reporters on April 18. The focus is on autos, because many parts are made in Canada and Mexico.

Wal-Mart, Home Depot

A business advisory group made up of executives from Wal- Mart Stores Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Home Depot Inc., which all have major operations in Mexico and Canada, will meet with the leaders tomorrow.

Bush, Calderon and Harper will also seek greater cooperation on protecting intellectual property and seizing fake products, Fisk said.

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