Autor: Steffen Tariffs, quotas and other barriers are distorting trade around the world. In 2004/2005, the average import tariff rate in the EU was 4.2%, whereas it was about 3.7% in the USA. In developing countries, this rate was significantly higher: in India it even reached 29.1%, for example1. And only recently Robert Portman, US trade representative, and Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, pleaded for maximum tariff rates at 75% and 100%, respectively2. This essay’s aim is to examine and to assess three of the arguments for and against protection (i.e., the imposition of trade barriers). It will also focus on the import tariff (denoted by ‘tariff’ in the following text) which is yet only a small part of the range of protectionism’s toolkit, including import quotas, instruments restricting or encouraging exports, product standards, domestic content requirements, etc. The evaluation of arguments will begin with the most important one against trade distortions being the loss of welfare; also, the exception to the rule when a tariff actually raises national welfare will be presented. Finally, the text will move on to an interesting argument in favour of a tariff, the developing government argument, and will close with a rather poor one, namely, the income redistribution argument.