This paper discusses the current challenges of the multilateral trade system, which are reflected in the WTO Doha Round deadlock. The main patterns of trade have changed due to the rise of global value chains and the globalization of the world economy, characterized by an increasing dispersion and fragmentation of industrial production. The article discusses the way these changes are challenging traditional assumptions of the multilateral trade system and the WTO Doha Round negotiations. Taking Brazil as an example, the paper argues that the mismatch between the negotiating agenda and the new world trade realities dwells in the very WTO member countries, which, at a great extent, have not yet aligned its trade policies to the new dynamics of the international trade. Finally, we argue that during the last ten years Brazil's trade policy has not properly considered the important changes in the international trade patterns brought about by global value chains and economic globalization.
global value chains; international trade; international political economy; Doha Round
