Recent Trends in Global Value Chains

The last few years have been challenging for globalization. While the world has benefited from the fragmented networks of production-sharing known as global value chains (GVCs), concerns are being raised over their risks. Chapter 1 of the Global Value Chain Development Report 2019 pointed to a rise in protectionism in general and a brewing trade conflict between the United States (US) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in particular. More obstacles have since emerged from the sudden and simultaneous closure of borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic that exposed vulnerabilities in some supply chains, rattling policymakers (Chapter 5). Despite these challenges, GVCs—for supporters and detractors alike—remain a reality that cannot be ignored. Indeed, the very vaccines crucial to ending the COVID-19 pandemic rely on multinational partnerships for the over 200 components that go into them (Irwin 2021).