French farmers drive 350 tractors to Parliament to protest low incomes and EU trade deal

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PARIS (AP) — French farmers steered some 350 tractors Tuesday over cobblestoned Paris avenues toward Parliament to protest low incomes and an EU trade deal with South America that they fear threatens their livelihoods.

Escorted by police, the tractors tangled rush-hour traffic as they rumbled down the Champs-Elysees and other Parisian avenues, and then over the Seine River to reach the National Assembly.

Farmer anger in France and other European countries has escalated over a rash of challenges recently. The unions leading Tuesday’s protests said they are demanding ″concrete and immediate action″ to defend France’s food security.

French farmers say their earnings are being squeezed by rising costs for fuel, fertilizer and animal feed, as well as by what they describe as heavier environmental rules and price pressure from powerful retailers and food companies.

And like farmers across the European Union, the French farmers have long denounced the EU's planned trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

They argue the deal would flood the market with cheaper imports of South American beef, poultry, sugar and other farm products produced under different standards, undercutting European producers and driving prices down further.

French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on TF1 television Tuesday that the government would make new announcements soon to help farmers.

President Emmanuel Macron and his government also oppose the EU-Mercosur trade deal, which has been under negotiation since 1999.

But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to sign the deal in Paraguay on Saturday, after a qualified majority of EU member states backed it last week.

Then it goes to the European Parliament, which starts a months-long approval process next week. Many of the 720 European parliament members support the deal, but the final vote may be close and the legislature could eventually reject the deal.

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Associated Press journalist Sylvain Plazy in Brussels contributed.