Rear Garnish Seal Importance

Hello all, I have I recently removed the rear hatch garnish on my 08 to fix some paint chips and rust due to the garnish rubbing on the paint.

Inspecting the garnish I noticed the seal was dried up and falling off in places, all of which were the places that the paint had been rubbed off the hatch.

I took some 3m double sided tape to these spots and spaced out the garnish from the body using the slightly thicker 3m tape to prevent the garnish from rubbing again. I did not place this tape all around the outside of the garnish, so there are gaps where water and debris can make there way through so they don’t just sit on the perimeter of it.

I’m starting to contemplate if I did the right thing, and I’m worrying that this gap will do the opposite of what I wanted it to, and will actually just cause more rust behind the garnish, as water, salt, and debris will now be able to make there way and build up more behind the garnish. I realize the garnish is not totally sealed in the first place, but are my concerns valid, or am I worrying too much and should just leave it alone?

Thanks!