AFP, MEXICO CITYThe Mexican Senate on Thursday ratified the modified North American free-trade agreement with the US and Canada after more than two years of arduous negotiations. New additions introduced on Tuesday to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — which notably toughen the deal’s labor enforcement provisions — were rubber-stamped by 107 votes to one, making Mexico the first nation to sign the deal. “We’re already done it in Mexico: The president has signed it and the Senate has ratified the USMCA,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tweeted. It replaces the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which US President Donald Trump said had been “a disaster” for the US. The deal is a “historic act” for Mexico for its potential to create jobs, Mexican Senator Ricardo Monreal said.
