The Mexican Senate. Photo: El Siglo de Torreón

XINHUA

The Mexican Senate ratified the modified United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) late Thursday, Dec. 12, after protracted negotiations for more than two years.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) tweeted that he signed the free trade deal and the Senate ratified it, saying “now it is up to the congresses of the United States and Canada to do the same.”

However, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday, Dec. 11, that the upper chamber will not take a vote on the USMCA before it adjourns for the year.

Representatives of Mexico, the United States and Canada earlier that day signed off on the revised free trade agreement.

The changes to the USMCA call for the creation of a panel of experts from the three partner countries to ensure compliance on labor issues and resolve any potential disputes.

Previously, Democrats in the U.S. House and U.S. labor unions had requested that U.S. inspectors be allowed to check compliance in Mexican factories, a position that AMLO and his administration adamantly opposed.