And they ship/externwlize much of their costs to other places. Just a few examples with China - US and EU send their plastic there for “recycling” and probably the majority of goods we use are manufactured in China so they can take the “carbon hit”
China doesn't take the world's plastic anymore, that comment is now 4 years outdated. Since then, some of it was shipped to south-east Asian countries but they started cutting back soon after.
That being said, plastic is a problem in itself, not a "carbon" concern as it is being discussed in COP28 so it is off-topic.
Regarding the "externalize manufacture"/"carbon hit", again, this is a little outdated. It was very true from 2005-2010, but since then China has developed rapidly and is now importing almost as much carbon as it is exporting. See graphs below for "consumption-based CO2 emissions vs. territorial emissions". Except for the EU, it is a matter of ~10% difference.
