President Donald Trump last week declined to renew the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement. The consequence of this decision is that while the term of the agreement runs to June 30, 2036, its individual provisions are subject to annual review and renegotiation in each year for the remainder of the 10-year term. Simply put, USMCA is now on life support. 

The reality, however, is that the patient is functionally brain dead. USMCA is an artificial creation, reflecting the delusions of crafting, within the U.S. sphere of influence, a free trade area encompassing countries at very different stages of social, political, and economic development.