ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that understanding the complementarity of domestic ideas and interests in Brazil and the US is crucial to understanding the successes and failures of US-Brazilian trade cooperation since the start of the Doha Round in 2001. Trade has long been central to bilateral cooperation between the US and Brazil. Although Brazilian domestic actors have traditionally had little influence over Brazilian trade policy decisions, the impact of domestic groups on trade policy is growing. Economic interest preferences were similarly unproblematic for US-Brazilian cooperation. The chapter presents two case studies – the negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas and the World Trade Organization mini-ministerial in 2008 – which demonstrate variation on the success of US-Brazilian trade cooperation. It concludes by discussing the future challenges for enhanced trade cooperation, and making suggestions for how to enhance such cooperation in the future.
