Wider 'circle of friends' can blunt US attacks
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the US president has called the "largest, fairest, and most balanced trade agreement in history", formally came into force on July 1. Centered on the basic idea of "America first", the USMCA not only strengthens the rules of origin, intellectual property rights, digital trade, labor, environment and other standards based on the now defunct North American Free Trade Agreement, but also contains a "poison pill" clause in Chapter 32, which says that if any of the three countries signs a free trade agreement with a "non-market economy", the other partners have the right to withdraw after six months and replace it with, say, a new bilateral agreement.
From the perspective of regional cooperation among the US, Mexico and Canada, the "poison pill" clause has limited direct impact on China, and it is difficult for the US to use it to target China in the short term. But from a medium-and long-term perspective and in the context of increasing global economic uncertainties, the ultimate impact of the "poison pill" clause will depend on the outcome of Sino-US disputes at the global, regional and bilateral levels.
Limited impact of 'poison pill' clause on China