Canada and Mexico are violating the spirit—and potentially the letter—of USMCA by enabling China to penetrate North American supply chains and circumvent U.S. trade barriers. USMCA is a binding treaty, not a suggestion. Especially, its Rules of Origin and Labor Value Content provisions were designed precisely to prevent this kind of backdoor access.
Carney calls closer economic integration with China a matter of Canadian sovereignty. Sovereignty, however, does not mean freedom to ignore treaty obligations while exporting the consequences to American workers and industry. If Canada and Mexico want the benefits of USMCA, they must enforce its rules—and shut China’s back door into the U.S. market.