Caught between a hysterical neoliberal narrative that vilifies tariffs and a U.S. administration that weaponizes them as tools of imperial foreign policy, this briefing note seeks to clarify La Via Campesina’s position on the issue. Intended for internal training within La Via Campesina, this note compiles various arguments in support of using tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to protect small-scale food producers and to promote food sovereignty and economic self-determination.

As outlined in the note, La Via Campesina firmly believes that, when applied with good intent and supported by appropriate public services, tariffs and NTBs can be powerful tools to support small-scale food producers, improve food availability, create jobs, and strengthen food sovereignty in both the Global North and South. However, these tools are increasingly being co-opted by governments with vested interests to protect transnational corporations, expand market dominance, and assert geopolitical power.

Even within our countries, it is important to recognize that tariffs are not always used to support small-scale producers. Too often, tariff revenues are directed toward protecting national, export-oriented agribusinesses, rather than ensuring domestic food security. This underscores the urgent need for strong, organized people’s movements to ensure that trade instruments are used to strengthen local food systems and support small-scale farmers—who rarely produce for export markets.

As this note explains, food sovereignty—the right of peoples and nations to define their own food systems, prioritizing local production, sustainability, and community well-being—can only be achieved through the collective and simultaneous use of trade tools like tariffs and NTBs, alongside robust national public policies. While not the only instruments needed, tariffs and NTBs are among the many essential tools for protecting domestic agriculture, ensuring fair trade, and promoting diverse, peasant-led agroecological food systems.

La Via Campesina has long argued that the neoliberal dogma underpinning international trade must be dismantled. It has only deepened inequality and hunger, driven debt crises, and exacerbated the climate emergency, with catastrophic consequences for people and the planet. It is time to reimagine global trade structures—redirecting instruments such as tariffs and subsidies to those who most deserve them: peasants, small-scale food producers, fisherfolk, and rural workers.

In this context, renewed attention to the use and misuse of tariffs should trigger a broader debate and demand for an alternative global trade framework—one grounded in equity, social justice, and food sovereignty.

We hope this briefing note serves to deepen the discussion among La Via Campesina members and allies.