Though it is a long way from a done deal, the attempt to link most of the world’s largest non-U.S., non-China economies into a single economic bloc is perhaps the most significant sign that the rest of the world is preparing for a future where America is no longer pushing for open markets and free trade.

But it is not the only sign. The E.U. and India are close to signing what one ambassador calls the “mother of all trade deals.” That comes after the E.U. signed a new deal with Indonesia, and India completed agreements with the U.K. and New Zealand, both of which are members of the CPATPP.

Meanwhile, Trump has signaled that he might rip up the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), a deal he once hailed as “the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law.”

With friends like that, no wonder the Canadian and Mexican governments are looking elsewhere for stability.

“This diversification is likely good for non-US parties, especially given Trump’s tariff threats and costlier domestic policy alternatives like subsidies,” Cato Institute trade expert Scott Lincicome wrote last week. “The shift could also be good for the global economy, to the extent it dampens future trade shocks coming from North America. But it is decidedly not good for the US over the short and long term.”

Of course, trade deals rarely guarantee full, free trade between signatories. Like all political agreements, there are inevitably carve-outs and protectionist details. On the whole, however, global trade deals have lowered tariff rates, boosted economic growth, and (most importantly) helped lift many human beings out of poverty by facilitating greater levels of free exchange.

And if the alternative is Trump’s world of higher tariffs and less trade, then whatever Carney is cooking up seems pretty good.

Meanwhile, in the land of high tariffs, everything “from bluejeans and spices to housewares and industrial products” could be getting more expensive, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Why? It’s not just tariffs, as higher health care costs, labor costs, and typical start-of-the-year pricing increases are part of the equation too. But the tariffs certainly aren’t helping things. Prices on the most affordable imported goods are up by 2.3 percent since dipping at the end of November, the Journal reports, citing data from the Harvard Business School’s tariff pricing tracker.

Tariffs are likely hitting your grocery bill too.

Is Trump finally admitting he screwed up with the tariffs? Well, no. But the White House might be slowly (and quietly) planning to reduce some of them. The Financial Times reported on Friday that officials in the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office are worried that tariffs on aluminum and steel are raising prices for consumers. The White House denied that a tariff rollback is coming, but Trump has previously cut tariffs on goods like coffee and beef as part of an ongoing effort to ease prices.

I know what you’re thinking: Doesn’t cutting tariffs to reduce prices prove that raising tariffs was increasing prices in the first place?

Yes. Yes, it does.

Scenes from America’s 250th Birthday Party: “George Washington’s humility in giving up power willingly remains among the most consequential decisions and important examples in American politics,” writes former President George W. Bush in the first of a series of essays examining the history of the U.S. presidency.

The essay series is being organized by Colleen Shogan, the former archivist of the United States who was fired by President Donald Trump last year. (The current head of the National Archives is, no joke, Marco Rubio.) I interviewed Shogan about the project last month.