I don't think it's much beyond words. The deal was actually pretty tepid, despite the language. Tariffs were just rolled back to 2024 levels. Also, the US and Australia both have substantially more trade with China than us. And the Australians do call it a "strategic partnership". A lot of noise from the US on this in particular, reeks of double standards.
Also, those "democratic middle powers" aren't easy or close to enough to sustain our current prosperity. How much more oil and gas are Japan and Korea going to take given their declining population? And who is going to let in Canadian made vehicles? You know the industry that employs hundreds of thousands.
China isn't going to be our saviour. I think Carney knows that. But we will have zero leverage with the US, unless we have a deal with China. You're arguing for unilateral disarmament in essence.