Some stakeholders have expressed disappointment that plastic treaty talks in Geneva failed to yield an accord, but many plastics industry groups agree that production caps designed to limit plastic production could have "unintended consequences" for key industries and economies. US plastics makers remained committed to "designing products for reuse and recycling, collecting and sorting them at end of life, and remaking them into new products," said American Chemistry Council President and CEO Chris Jahn. "A global agreement to end plastic pollution will help drive investment in innovation and infrastructure in the U.S. and worldwide."

The Trump administration has expanded its 50% steel and aluminum tariffs to include 407 additional product categories, marking a significant broadening of its trade policy. The Department of Commerce announced that this move aims to enhance the effectiveness of tariffs and prevent circumvention by targeting a wider range of products.

Reducing plastic waste in the environment while preserving its key benefits in packaging is a priority for the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. In this podcast, CEO Jacob Duer discusses the organization's strategies and future plans.

China is planning a major overhaul of its chemical and oil refining industries to address overcapacity, targeting facilities that are more than 20 years old for retrofitting and potentially shutting down smaller refiners with less than 2 million tons of annual capacity. The plan, awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, aims to shift investment to advanced materials, including chemicals used in AI, robotics, semiconductors, biomedical devices, batteries and renewable energy.

Import prices gained 0.4% in July, with the cost of consumer goods driving the increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase followed a downwardly revised drop of 0.1% in June. Fuel price imports jumped 2.7% last month, while food prices inched downward by 0.1%, with a weakening dollar playing a major role.

Create aligned autonomy within your teams by combining transparency, alignment to shared goals and iterative feedback, so they can make decisions confidently while staying coordinated with organizational objectives, writes startup advisor Keith Lucas. "Competent leaders of intrinsically motivated teams build systems optimized for team-based creativity, innovation and problem-solving -- systems defined by practices, principles and feedback loops," Lucas writes.