2025 has seen the greatest rise in global tariffs since the onset of the globalization era. Meanwhile, the European plastic recycling industry is in recession at the very moment that it ought to be expanding to meet the demand generated by PPWR – and recyclers are calling for regulatory protection from what they view as market dumping of materials lacking a transparent chain of custody. In this panel we explore the dynamics of international trade in recycled content, debate the impacts of protecting markets, explore the challenges for different regions, and imagine what a global market in PCR could look like.