It has always been like this and the US or the FAA therefore, are not the center of the world. Every Country or Union has their own focus and systems in place when it comes to certification - yet a lot is similar through ICAO commitments and bilateral agreements (FAA and EASA) which slimline the process a lot!
BUT, things like the massive B737MAX mess are making turn things backward. When the FAA as a government agency is delegating their tasks to people of a Company (like boeing) with massive conflicts of interest and pressure of beeing let-go, then the whole system is broken.
Not everything is as simple and easy to judge as it seems.
There is good AND bad reason why aircraft and their certification are expensive 