International trade is reaching a decisive crossroads. The rules, institutions, and production networks that once supported expanding global commerce are being reshaped by geopolitical rivalry, industrial subsidies, protectionism, fragmented standards, supply-chain realignment, and growing uncertainty over market access. For the Global South, these changes raise a fundamental development question: Can manufacturing remain a pathway to jobs, productivity, technological learning, and structural transformation, or is the export ladder being pulled away? At the same time, the WTO, the central institution intended to provide stability, predictability, and fairness in international trade, is under mounting pressure.

This track brings these two challenges together. The first session examines the pressures facing manufacturing and asks whether the Global South can still climb the export ladder. The second considers whether the WTO can adapt to a fragmented world and continue to provide credible rules for global trade. Together, the sessions explore whether the future will be shaped by renewed multilateral cooperation and broader access to trade, or by a system in which powerful economies retain flexibility while developing countries face higher barriers, weaker opportunities, and deeper dependence.