Markets, Realpolitik, and Solidarity in Brazilian Trade Policy.

Brazil, a founder and prominent voice in the Group of 20 that emerged in the 2003 World Trade Organization Ministerial meeting at Cancún, has strongly advocated reform of the global trade regime to take into account the legitimate concerns of developing countries. What motivates Brazilian trade policy? We examine Brazilian negotiating positions in coffee, sugar, intellectual property in pharmaceuticals, and the bilateral US-Brazil relationship, concluding that it is not possible to understand Brazilian trade policies simply by reference to the country’s commercial interests. Brazil’s friendly but competitive trade relations with the US well illustrate Brazil’s intentions to behave as a regional hegemon, while its actions in support of generic alternatives to expensive patented drugs for AIDS suggest that motives of democratically-inspired solidarity also have real implications the country’s trade policy choices. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]