China and Canada eye more mutually beneficial trade deal

A clause in the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact, widely known as a "poison pill" aimed at China, will not stop Canada from continuing to negotiate a free trade agreement with China, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at an event at the National University of Singapore on Thursday. This suggests the US will find it extremely difficult to administer its "poison pill", because it has gone too far in using bullying tactics against other countries - in this case, China.

It is nearly impossible for the US to win over the international community's support for bullying other countries, although some countries have been forced to succumb to the superpower's threats.

The "poison pill" refers to Article 32.10 in the USMCA trade pact, which requires the three North American countries to inform each other of their intention to start free trade agreement negotiations with a "nonmarket economy" at least three months in advance, while the parties are free to terminate the USMCA trade deal on a six-month notice and replace it with a bilateral agreement.